


Remembrance

by LizzeXX



Series: The Academic Series [6]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Amy needs a hug, Best Friends, Bonding, Canon Divergence, Canon Rewrite, Drama, Embedded Images, Firefly Reavers Cameo, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Gallifrey, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, Kata - Freeform, Keta, Keta share a brain, Marriage, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Past Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Past Relationship(s), Past Torture, Recovery, Romance, Rory is an adorable puppy, The Academic Series, The Doctor loves her so much, The Last Great Time War, The Professor is in a good place, Theta/Kata, Time Travel, Weapon use, Who is River Song?, doctor who - Freeform, past trauma, series 6 rewrite, some violence, space travel, time lady - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-23
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-05-20 13:23:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 151,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14895399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LizzeXX/pseuds/LizzeXX
Summary: The Doctor and Professor have rebooted the Universe, but something more sinister is lurking in the...silence. What will happen when Silence falls? Who is River Song to the Time Lords? What happened in America?11/OCTime Lady





	1. Space and Time

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Hello everyone! Now begins the sixth story of the Academic Series involving the Professor, my OC, in a revision of Series 6! Five stories come before this one (Reunion, Recuperation, Relapse, Rebound, and Revitalization) which really explain a lot about the Professor and the Doctor's relationship with her, so you should probably read them first :)
> 
> Some notes:  
> ~8~ is a scene break  
> ~/~\~ is a flashback (three per story)  
> 'italics' is the Doctor/Professor speaking telepathically.
> 
> The Academic Series is based around the Doctor and Professor's POV, so some scenes are missing, those that include references to the Doctor can also be thought to include the Professor too.
> 
> A brief description of the Professor's 11th incarnation: hazel (brownish-green, with flecks of lighter green) eyes, strawberry blonde, wavy hair that is worn half up/half down by a green clip, and cheekbones that are slightly pronounced when she smiles. Her typical outfit consists of a colored tank top, a blue jean jacket, a knee length white skirt and white tennis shoes. She also wears a pair of black shorts under her skirt with a holster attached to her thigh to hold her sonic blaster.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who...if I did, the Professor would actually be in the show...

The Doctor was lying on his back on a small dolly under the console, working on it as he whistled.

"Can you check the reality compensators?" the Professor called up to him from where she herself was working below the console, showing Rory how to wire some things, replace the thermo-couplings and whatnot. The Doctor pulled a tube off the console and then reached up and flicked a switch, "Thank you!"

"Hey!" Amy called as she walked over.

"HEY!" the Doctor wheeled himself out, grinning at her a moment, before wheeling back under.

She pulled him out a moment later, "Listen can we talk?"

"RORY!" he shouted, a bit frantic, as he pulled himself back under.

Amy rolled her eyes and grabbed him by the lapels, pulling him out once more, "No, shut up. I just got a question that's all…"

"You okay up there?" Rory called, looking up at them through the floor, the Professor kneeling beside him with a small blowtorch and blackened goggles on.

"Yeah, fine, no problem!" the Doctor replied as Amy stood and looked down at her husband, her hands on her hips.

"What are you doing?" she asked suspiciously.

"Helping the Professor help Doctor..." he answered as the Doctor rolled back under. He turned to the Professor, "Um, it's humming is that okay?"

"It's fine Rory," she assured him, "We're just entering conceptual space."

"Imagine a banana!" the Doctor called, pulling himself out, "Or anything curved!"

"Actually don't," the Professor cut in, taking a small umbrella that had been lying down there and thumping it against the top of the floor just under the Doctor for a moment, "Since it's not curved nor is it anything like a banana!"

The Doctor nodded a bit, "Right, forget the banana," and rolled back under.

"Uh, is he helping you fly the TARDIS?" Amy asked them.

"Attach thermo-couplings 2, 7, and 11…" the Professor told Rory, unable to do it herself amidst returning to her welding, "Like I showed you," Rory nodded and walked off as the Doctor pulled out and rolled over to get up, walking to the console.

"How come he gets a go?" Amy asked, following him, "You never let me have a go."

"Uh, Doctor," Rory called, a bit panicked, "Don't. Seriously. I let her drive my car once."

The Doctor walked around her to the other side of the console as Amy rolled her eyes, "Yeah. To the end of the road."

"Yeah where, according to Amy, there was an unexpected house."

"Oh, he's jealous because I passed my test first time," she remarked as the Doctor walked back around her, leaning over to type something.

"You cheated. You wore a skirt."

The Doctor paused in his typing at that rather familiar situation.

"I didn't wear a skirt," Amy defended.

"Luck would have worked too."

The Doctor glanced at her skirt before standing up and walking around her, shaking his head.

"No, no, I did wear a skirt. But it was any old skirt."

"…did you happen to give her the skirt Rory?" the Professor asked him, sensing the similarity as well.

"No?" he eyed her curiously.

She patted him on the shoulder, "Hear that Doctor!" she shouted up to him, "Rory's a gentleman!"

"I told you a hundred times," the Doctor groaned, rolling his eyes, "It really was for good luck!"

Rory shook his head, pushing his questions to the side, it was probably some Time Lord thing he'd never understand. He looked up at the Doctor, "You ever see Amy drive Doctor?"

"No!" he shouted down.

"Neither did her driving examiner."

"Actually..." Amy muttered in thought, "It was this one...it was  _this_  skirt."

"Rory!" the Professor shouted a moment before the TARDIS lurched forward, nearly knocking them all down. All the lights went off.

"What was that?" Amy breathed.

"Rory dropped a thermo-coupling!" the Professor grumbled, whacking him on the arm lightly. She'd seen him looking up through the glass ceiling before it had fallen out of his hand.

"Oh how did he do that?" the Doctor walked around the floor to look down at them, "Did you tell him don't drop them?"

The Professor lifted her blackened goggles up, "Yes, I specifically mentioned not dropping them."

"It was my fault," Amy said quietly.

"Of course it wasn't your fault," the Doctor walked around her.

"It kinda was her fault," Rory told him.

"How can it be her fault?"

"Because it was  _my_  skirt," Amy told him, "And  _my_  husband. And  _your_  glass floor."

The Doctor looked down at Rory and then the Professor, a bit confused, but she just picked up the edge of her skirt meaningfully and nodded at Rory. His eyes widened, "Oh ew! Rory!"

"Sorry!" he called.

The Doctor shook his head and looked at the Professor again, "What were you saying about him being a gentleman?"

She just pulled the goggles off her head completely and rolled her eyes, tossing them aside as she made her way up the stairs, "We've landed," she reminded him, "Emergency materialization..."

He smirked a bit at having caught her without a retort and turned to the console, nodding, "We should be fine. Should have locked on to the safest space available," he pushed a lever up and the lights turned on.

"Or not," the Professor said.

The Doctor looked up at her to see her looking at something past his shoulder. He turned around slowly and his mouth dropped open at the sight of the TARDIS stationed on the floor before them.

"Doctor...what's happened?" Amy asked as he walked past them slowly, staring at it.

"Safest spot available," he murmured, "The TARDIS has materialized inside of itself."

He started down the stairs, walking towards the TARDIS as Rory and the Professor stopped at the top of the steps, "Is that supposed to happen?" Rory asked her.

She could only give him a look, "Take a guess."

"No?"

"Spot on," she patted his shoulder.

The Doctor reached out to touch the doors.

"What are you doing?" Amy asked him.

"I have absolutely no idea," he whispered before throwing the door open and running in…only to come back into the room through the main TARDIS doors.

"Uh, ok that is a bit weird."

The Doctor put his hand through the door and it appeared through the smaller TARDIS doors, to which Rory laughed, "That is actually pretty cool."

The Doctor stepped through the main doors and out of the smaller TARDIS, "Oh, I'm glad you're entertained Rory," he started walking back to them, "Now that were stuck here for all eternity," he mock glared as he walked up the steps, "At least you won't be bored."

"Wait, what, we're stuck?" Amy's eyes widened.

"The inside of the TARDIS is now joined to the outside of the TARDIS," the Professor began.

"Worse than a time loop," the Doctor nodded.

"It's a space loop."

"Nothing can enter or leave this ship ever again."

They all looked over as the main doors opened and another Amy walked through, "Ok kids," she began, "This is where it gets complicated."

"Who the  _hell_  are you?" Amy eyed herself, stunned.

"I'm you from your future!"

The Doctor walked over to her, "Tell us exactly what's happened."

"Well, the exterior shell of the TARDIS has drifted forwards in time," the other Amy told them, "If you step into the box now, you step inside the control room a tiny bit into the past."

"I don't understand…" Amy shook her head.

"Neither do I."

"But you just said it!"

"No, I'm just repeating it," the other Amy explained as the Doctor rubbed his forehead, "I'm just remembering what I heard myself saying when I was standing where you are now and repeating it. I'm just repeating this too, and this, and this…"

"I still don't understand."

"You still don't."

"Ok," the Professor cut in, slightly amused, "When does this Amy step inside the box? We need to maintain the timeline."

"Ah, as soon as she slapped Rory," the other Amy replied.

"Ok," Amy nodded, fully prepared and ready to slap her husband.

Rory let out an unamused laugh, "No. Why do I get slapped?"

"Because we have to stick to the established chain of events," the Doctor explained.

"One mistake, the whole timeline could collapse," the Professor added.

"We'd end up with two Amy Ponds forever!"

"And then what would you do?"

Rory thought about it a moment before turning to Amy suggestively. Amy, guessing his thoughts, let out an outraged squeak and slapped him.

"Ok," the Professor laughed, "Into the police box, now!" she nudged Amy down.

Amy ran over to the smaller TARDIS door and paused, "What, and then I become her?"

"Yes, go, go, go!" the Doctor urged her on, walking back up the stairs.

Amy paused and glanced at herself as she leaned against the other side of the TARDIS, "Do I really look like that?"

"Yeah," she nodded, "Yeah you do."

"Hmm, I'd defiantly give you a driving license."

"Oh I bet you would."

"Oh," the Doctor groaned, "This is how it all ends. Pond flirting with herself. True love at last!" the Professor nudged him and he glanced at a still partially stunned Rory, "Oh, sorry Rory."

"Absolutely no problem at all," Rory murmured.

"Now Amy!"

"What's the first line?" Amy turned to herself.

"Ok kids, this is where it gets complicated," her other self replied.

"Gotcha," she nodded, stepping in.

The other Amy turned to them and ran up the stairs, "So, is that it? Are we ok now?"

"No, we're still trapped," the Doctor shook his head.

And then the main doors opened again and another Amy and Rory ran in this time.

"What are you doing?" the Doctor demanded.

"The Professor told us to get into the police box," the other Rory explained, "Well, from your point of view, you're about to tell us to get into the police box. From our point of view, you just told us to get into the police box. Which is why we got into the police box. Which is why we're here…"

"Do I have to remember all of that?" Rory frowned, confused.

The other Rory shrugged, "It sort of just happens."

"Hi!" Amy waved to herself.

"Hi!" she waved back.

"Hey!" the Doctor chastised, "Stop that!"

The Professor laughed, far too amused by all this, "Come on you two," she pushed Amy and Rory towards the box, "Into the police box, now, move."

"So what now?" the other Amy asked as Amy and Rory disappeared into the box.

"You two stay where you are," the Doctor ordered the other Amy and the other Rory before he and the Professor moved to the console.

"What are you doing?" Rory asked.

"We're setting up a controlled temporal implosion," the Professor replied, "It's the only way to reset the TARDIS."

"But unless we find exactly the right lever to control the implosion…" the Doctor winced, "We're all going to die."

"You don't know which lever?" Amy asked, incredulous.

"No…"

The Professor just cleared her throat.

"Ok,  _I_  don't," he grinned, walking over to face them, but holding a finger up behind him to silence the Professor from spoiling his fun, "But I'm about to find out."

The main doors opened and another Doctor ran in, pulling another Professor after him, "The wibbly lever!"

"The wibbly lever!" he cheered, "Thank you!"

"I told you it's not called that!" both Professors shouted.

But the Doctor just grabbed her hand and pulled her to the box while his other self pulled his own Professor a bit past Amy and Rory, watching as the TARDIS disappeared. The Professor ran over to the controls and looked at the monitor.

"Yes!" she gave the ok, "We are back in normal flight!"

"The TARDIS is no longer inside itself," the Doctor walked back to Amy and Rory, putting his arms around their shoulders, "The localized time field is no longer about to implode and rip a hole in all causality. But, just in case…" he looked down at Amy, "Pond put some trousers on," and walked off.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we have entered Series 6, where we discover who River Song is and get a game changing decision during the Christmas special (the last chapter!). I can't wait till you find out what both are. In terms of this being the first chapter, I always felt like the Death of the Doctor was a good place to end Series 5 and that this mini-episode came before The Impossible Astronaut so I thought I'd put it here as a little treat for you guys. Just imagine that this takes place just before the Doctor and Professor drop the Ponds off before disappearing for two months :)
> 
> As for the title of this story, with all the memory altering the Silence have a hand in and the nostalgia in certain episodes, I thought Remembrance would be fitting when dealing with memory. Also a note, the next chapter (The Impossible Astronaut) will follow the Doctor/Professor's POV/timeline, not their future selves.


	2. The Impossible Astronaut

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I said in previous stories following the Professor, most of the story will be in the Doctor/her POV, so, in keeping true to that, the entire scene with the Astronaut in the beginning will only take place during The Wedding (or something else perhaps) of River Song. The events of it will be hinted at by Rory, Amy, and River but we'll actually see it happen when our Doctor and Professor live it and not when their future versions appear.

The doors burst open with a clang as a man in restoration garb strode through them, pushing a servant to the side, "Out of my way!" he shouted, reaching another set of doors and pulling on them, only to find them locked, "Doctor!" he shouted, pounding on it, "Doctor!" he shoved against the door and it strained, "Doctor!" one firm push with two other men and the door burst open. He strode in, looking first at two piles of clothing cast over a stool, then at a line of paints, and finally to a portrait of the Doctor in a god-like pose, holding a trident in one hand, his arm wrapped around the Professor who stood equally like a goddess facing him, pressed against his side, a red swatch of cloth wrapped around them, protecting their modesty as they stood in the clouds. He turned to a young woman, the artist, "Where's the Doctor?"

She laughed anxiously, "Doctor who?"

A muffled sneeze sounded and the man used the tip of his sword to lift the hem of the woman's dress, revealing a naked Doctor peering out from under it. He smiled nervously, "You know, this isn't  _nearly_  as bad it looks…"

"Oh but this is," the Professor added, standing behind the man, clutching a red robe closed before her as she held a sword to the man's back, the two guards who had entered with him already incapacitated by her.

~8~

A man in a dirty white tank and green pants crawled through a tunnel, sweating, till he reached a hole in the top at the end, "Professor!" he hissed, "Professor what can you see?"

The Professor's head popped down, her hair hanging around her in a ponytail, wearing a similar white tank, just as dirty and sweaty, but with a smile on her face, "I'm going to assume the commandant's office is painted a sort of green color with a big flag on the wall…" she looked up as an alarm blared and grinned, "Excellent!"

She was yanked out of the hole and the man winced, hearing the sounds of a fight. He quickly crawled down the tunnel and popped his head through the hole, only to see a few men lying around the room, unconscious, and the Professor sitting at the commandant's desk with her feet up on it.

"Well?" she looked at him, "Are you coming or not?" he stared at her and she looked at a clock on the back wall, "Our ride should be here in…" a wheezing sounded and the man scrambled out of the hole.

The door to the TARDIS popped open and the Doctor stuck his head out, grinning, "Cab for my lovely wife?"

She laughed, hopping up and rushing over to him, hugging him tightly, "Right on time," she pulled away, giving him a peck, "For once."

"Oi!" he mock glared as she stepped in with the man behind her.

She smiled but then crinkled her nose, "Oh," she tugged the top of her tank top, sniffing it before grimacing, "I need a shower..." she trailed off, glancing at the Doctor as a pink tint appeared on his cheeks and laughed, patting him on the cheek, "Yes you can help," she whispered to him, having caught a bit of his thoughts. She leaned in, "But only after you've gotten him home," she nodded over her shoulder.

The Doctor looked up, blushing completely now that he realized she wasn't alone and that someone had been standing there the whole time, though he didn't seem to have been paying attention to what was being said as he stared in awe at the bigger-on-the-inside room. The Professor burst out laughing as she made her way towards the stairs to the halls as the Doctor dashed to the console, eager to drop the man off...

~8~

The Doctor grinned broadly as he snuck onto the set of Laurel and Hardy's 'Sons of the Desert,' even more happy with the fact that he once again had a fez! He ran to the camera and waved cheerfully before rushing back over to famed men, dancing alongside them, in step. He and the Professor had been alternating a few adventures, and now it was his turn to try and make a shout-out to Amy and Rory from the pages of history. He recalled Rory mentioning once or twice how he was a Laurel and Hardy fan and figured the best way to say hi to the man would be through one of the classic movies.

He spun in a little circle, dancing more, until he noticed some of the actors realizing he wasn't meant to be there and dashed off, gripping his fez so as not to lose it. He ran through the crowd of actors and into a small blue box waiting for him just around a corner.

He grinned, seeing the Professor at the console, pulling a lever to send them off into the Vortex, "Where to this time?" he asked her.

She gave him an odd look, one he couldn't interpret, and handed him a blue envelope that had been lying on the jump seat, "It seems someone wants to see us."

He frowned, taking the envelope and pulling out a card with a date, time, and map reference on it. He glanced up at her, "What do you think?"

She shrugged, "The biplane lesson isn't till 1911..."

He grinned and ran to the console, putting in the coordinates, curious to see who and what was going on.

~8~

The Doctor stepped out of the back storage room of a diner, past the Elvis poster on the door and stopped short, straw hanging out of his mouth, when he saw River, Amy, and Rory standing before him, all looking shell-shocked. He smiled at their surprise and pointed at them. He and the Professor had been waiting for a while for whoever was supposed to see them to show up, even going so far as to order something to drink while they waited. He was very pleasantly surprised to see it was his Companions along with River Song. They, on the other hand, didn't look as happy.

"This is cold," River turned to him, hard, "Even by your standards, this is  _cold_."

"Or hello, as people used to say," he remarked, eyeing them oddly, they were just staring at him, completely startled.

"Doctor?" Amy breathed, her voice trembling.

"Just popped out to get my special straw," he held up his straw, "It adds more fizz."

"My straw is by far much cooler," the Professor added, stepping through the door as well, holding up a green crazy straw, "It's all twisted."

"Fizz beats twisted any day," he countered.

"Says you," she shot back, before noticing the group now staring at her with wide eyes and open mouths as well, "What's happened to them?" she asked him quietly.

"I've no idea."

Amy shook her head, just looking at them. They couldn't be there, they just couldn't. The Doctor wasn't wearing a Stetson, the Professor wasn't wearing a brown tassled cowboy jacket and boots…they were alive…they were together and alive…but…

Amy stepped forward and walked around them, the two turning to follow her as she moved, "You're ok," she whispered, tugging the Professor's jean jacket before reaching out to touch the Doctor's bow tie, "How can you be ok?"

"Oh Amy," the Professor pulled her into a tight hug, seeing her getting upset, "Of course we're ok. We're always ok."

The Doctor stepped forward and hugged her as well, "We're the king and queen of…"

"Belgium?" the Professor joked.

"Of ok," he corrected with a smile, before frowning, "Oh that's a rubbish title, forget that title," and then he spotted Rory again, "Rory the Roman! That's a good title! Hello Rory!" he moved over to hug Rory, who looked very confused, leaving the Professor to stand beside Amy with her arm around the girl's shoulder, watching, "And Dr. River Song…" he turned to River, "Oh, you bad, bad girl, what trouble have you got for us this time?" she simply slapped him, "Ok…I'm sure that's for something I haven't done yet…"

"Yes it is," she nodded with a glare, "And you as well," she turned it on the Professor who looked at the Doctor, confused.

"We're looking forward to it?" the Professor shook her head, not understanding their reactions. They were acting as though they had died or something.

"I don't understand," Rory shook his head, looking at the Doctor and Professor, "How can you be here?" he poked the Doctor in the chest, making him sway.

"We were invited," the Professor walked over and plucked their envelope from River's hands, showing them the TARDIS blue card with a number 1 on it, "Date, map reference, same as you."

"We'd assume otherwise but it's a hell of a coincidence," the Doctor added.

"River what's going on?" Amy looked at River desperately.

"Amy ask them what age they are," River told her.

"That's a bit personal," the Doctor remarked, sticking his straw in his mouth as the Professor picked up the water she'd ordered and began to sip it with her crazy straw.

"Tell her. Tell her what age you are."

"909."

"907," the Professor eyed them, wondering what was so important about that. To Amy, it had only been about two months since she and Rory saw them, but to them it had been a fair bit longer, they'd been 908 and 906 the last time they saw their Companions.

"But you said…" Amy turned to them.

"So where does that leave us huh?" River cut in, growing upset, "Jim the Fish? Have we done Jim the Fish yet?"

"Who's Jim the Fish?" the Doctor asked.

"I don't understand," Amy shook her head.

"Yeah, you do…" Rory walked over to her.

" _We_  don't," the Professor cut in, growing a bit annoyed at the lack of answers, "What are we all doing here?"

River exchanged a look with Amy and Rory before answering carefully, "We've been…recruited, something to do with space, 1969," she sent a meaningful look at Amy and Rory as the Doctor turned to pace, "And a man called Canton Everett Delaware III."

"Recruited by who?"

"Someone who trusts you two more than anybody else in the Universe."

The Doctor turned around, "And who's that?"

"Spoilers."

The Doctor put the straw in his mouth sulkily as the Professor eyed the trio. She knew diversion tactics like no one's business, she knew they were hiding something. And just from their reactions and words, she could guess that it had something to do with an incident involving their future selves, possibly something that ended up with their deaths given the way they'd first stared, and they were trying to cover it up.

She didn't like it one bit. As she had told Amy during their first trip, they shouldn't EVER decide what she and the Doctor needed to know. She glanced at the Doctor, not allowing her thoughts to drift over to him, she wouldn't want to have him worry when she wasn't  _entirely_  sure.

~8~

The Doctor and Professor danced around the console of the TARDIS, setting the controls as River watched and Amy leaned against the railing, Rory standing close by.

"1969, that's an easy one," the Doctor was saying, "Funny how some years are easy," he moved to lean on the railing by Amy.

"I know," the Professor grinned, "1483 is full of glitches," she looked at the Doctor, "We're really going to have to fix that," she glanced at River, "The Doctor," she cleared her throat, " _Distracted_  me," she smirked as a pink tint appeared on his cheeks, "While we were supposed to be piloting the TARDIS to the First Great and Bountiful Human Empire."

"Yes well," he coughed a bit at the memory of exactly how 'distracted' they had gotten, swinging away from Amy and back to the console, "Now then Canton Everett Delaware III. That was his name yeah?" he ran around to River who was watching Amy walk off, "How many of those can there be?" and then back to the console, "Well, three I suppose."

River walked past him and down to where Amy had gone to sit under the console. The Professor watched them go for a moment, before turning to Rory, "Rory, is everybody cross with us for some reason?"

"I'll find out," he nodded and walked off to join the trio under the glass floor. The Doctor and Professor watched them go, suspicious and sad.

"Explain it again," Amy whispered to River as Rory walked down.

"The Doctor and Professor we saw on the beach were future versions. 200 years older than the ones up there."

"But all that's still gonna happen. They're still going to die."

"We're all going to do that Amy."

"We're NOT all going to arrange our own wake and invite ourselves," Rory stepped over to them, glancing up to see the duo by the console, "So, the Doctor and Professor, in the future, knowing they're going to die, recruit their younger selves and all of us to...to what exactly? Avenge them?"

River shook her head, "Avenging's not their style…well, not the Doctor's at least..."

"Save them?" Amy suggested.

"That's not either of their styles," Rory shook his head.

"Well we have to tell them!" Amy stood up.

"We've told them all we can," River stepped over to her, "We can't even tell them we've seen their future selves. And knowing the Professor, we've probably given away even that and more by just our reactions, hopefully nothing too concrete though. We have to be careful. They're interacting with their own past. It could rip a hole in the Universe."

"Except they've done it before," Amy argued.

"And in fairness, the Universe  _did_  blow up," Rory reminded her.

"They'd want to know."

"Would they?" River asked, "Would anyone?"

The Doctor suddenly popped his head down to hang over the top of the floor, "We're being extremely clever up here and there's no one to stand around looking impressed. What's the point in having you all?" he pulled up.

"Couldn't you just slap him sometimes?" River remarked.

"River we can't just let them die," Amy whispered to her, "We have to stop it," River just looked back at her, "How can you be ok with this?"

"The Doctor and Professor's deaths don't frighten me, nor does my own. There's a far worse day coming for me," and with that, she turned and headed back up the stairs, the couple following behind.

"Time isn't a straight line…" the Professor began to explain as the three of them returned.

"It's all bumpy wumpy," the Doctor nodded.

"Bumpy wumpy?"

"Willy nilly?" he countered.

She mock glared at him, "Touché."

He laughed and continued on, "There's loads of boring stuff like Sundays and Tuesdays and…" he angrily grabbed a lever, "Thursday afternoons," and flipped it.

"But now and then there are Saturdays," the Professor laughed, "His favorite day of the week."

"Big temporal tipping points where," he walked to River, "Anything is possible. TARDIS can't resist them, like a moth to a flame. She loves a party so…"

"We give her 1969 and NASA," the Professor called, typing something into the keypad.

"Because that's space in the 60s," the Doctor walked over to her.

"And Canton Everett Delaware III and this," she hit a button, "Is where she's pointing," she flicked on the monitor and they all gathered around.

"Washington D.C., April the 8th, 1969?" Amy read, "So why haven't we landed?"

"'Cos that's not where we're going," the Doctor replied.

"Why?" Rory looked at him, "Where are we going?"

"Home," the Professor told them, "Well, you two are."

"Off you pop and make babies," the Doctor agreed, "And you Dr. Song back to prison," he walked away from the console, "And us! We're late for a biplane lesson in 1911. Or it could be knitting. Knitting or biplanes one or the other," he turned and plopped down on the jump seat, crossing his leg and putting a hand to his face, covering his eyes. Amy and Rory exchanged a glance and moved to stand around him.

"Really?" the Professor moved over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder as he dropped his hand onto her own and looked at them, "A mysterious summons, you think we're just going to go?" she shook her head, "We're not stupid."

"Who sent those messages?" the Doctor looked at them.

"We  _know_  you know," she eyed them, "I can see it in your faces, in your words, in your actions. You  _know_  what's happening and you're not saying."

The Doctor nodded as Amy and Rory looked startled, "Of course we know. So don't play games with us. Don't ever,  _ever_  think you're capable of that."

River swallowed and stepped forward, "You're going to have to trust us this time."

"Trust you?" the Professor nearly scoffed as she walked over to her. She was nearly certain she knew who River was, the woman's DNA combination could scarcely lie, but to not know who she was to them…how she got to be the way she was…what she did…who she killed…until then…

"Sure," the Doctor added sarcastically, getting up, "But first of all, Dr. Song, just one thing. Who are you? You're someone from our future, we're getting that, but who?"

River was silent.

"Ok," the Professor asked, "Why are you in prison? Who exactly did you kill?"

"Now I love a bad girl, me," the Doctor added, but his arm went around the Professor's waist, "But trust you? Seriously?"

"Trust me," Amy called, stepping forward.

The Professor looked at River a long while, reading the woman's expression. River looked heartbroken that they still didn't trust her, and the fact that she had no idea why they did trust her in the first place frustrated her. She didn't like hurting the woman, she knew that River would be someone very important to both her and the Doctor in the future, but until the day they knew why she was so important to them...until then, she would keep the woman at a distance.

She shook her head from her thoughts and turned to Amy, "Ok," they walked over to her.

"You have to do this and you can't ask why," Amy told them.

"Are you being threatened?" the Professor eyed her, "Is someone making you say that?"

"No."

The Doctor looked at the Professor, "Is she lying?"

"No," she shook her head, reading her body language, analyzing her voice pattern.

"I'm not lying," Amy insisted.

"Swear to us," the Doctor turned back to her, "Swear to us on something that matters."

Amy looked at them and smiled lightly, "Fish fingers, custard, and everything else in my refrigerator."

The Doctor started to smile, "Our lives in your hands Amelia Pond."

Amy looked down as they turned and walked away.

"Thank you," River called to her as Rory put a hand on his wife's shoulder in comfort.

"So!" the Doctor shouted as he and the Professor got back to piloting the TARDIS, "Canton Everett Delaware III! Who's he?"

The Professor looked over to see River by the keypad, bringing up his information, "Ex-FBI got kicked out," River called as they walked over to her, looking at the monitor.

"Why?" the Professor frowned. River tapped the monitor to where it had him listed as having 'Attitude Problems.'

"Six weeks after he left the bureau, the President contacted him for a private meeting."

"Yeah 1969, who's President?" the Doctor asked.

"Richard Millhouse Nixon," the Professor answered.

River nodded, "Vietnam, Watergate, there's some good stuff too…"

"But not enough," he remarked.

"Hippie!"

"Archaeologist," the Professor muttered.

"Ok!" the Doctor clapped as he turned to run around the console, "Since we don't know what we're getting into, this time…"

"For once!" the Professor added jokingly, both she and the Doctor knew she loved jumping into things as much as he did.

"We're being discreet," he nodded, "Putting the engines on silent!" he tossed a lever and the noise grew louder. The Professor winced and quickly looked at River who was nearer the lever than her. She quickly pushed it down and the engines stilled. The Doctor ran around behind her, "Did you do something?"

"No…" River shook her head innocently, "Just…watching."

He eyed her a moment before running around to the Professor's side, "Putting the outer shell on invisible. Haven't done this in a while. Big drain on the power."

"You can turn the TARDIS invisible?" Rory asked as the Doctor flipped a switch and light poured through the windows.

The Professor squinted and hit the switch back, dimming the lights, "Very nearly."

The Doctor popped up again, looking at the Professor this time, "Did you touch something?"

"Of course not," she remarked equally as innocent, "You've got this covered haven't you?"

He nodded and glanced at the trio, "Keep an eye open," he told them, "You might learn something," River and the Professor exchanged a smirk at that, oh yes, they would learn exactly what  _not_  to do, "Ok!" he turned to the console and tapped a button by the monitor, "Now, we can't check the scanner, it doesn't work when we're cloaked," he smirked at the Professor, "So no environment checks," she rolled her eyes at him.

' _Will you keep an eye on them?_ ' he asked her silently, nodding at the trio. It didn't sit right with him either that they were hiding something. He didn't want them both to leave and risk them plotting or discussing what he and the Professor didn't know while they were out.

She sighed, not wanting to but nodded anyway, ' _Be careful!_ '

He smiled and nodded at her, before remembering that the trio was still staring at him, "Um, just give us a mo…" he ran to the door, but stopped short and turned around to see the trio trying to follow, the Professor standing by the console, leaning against it, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, you lot…wait. We're in the middle of the most powerful city in the most powerful country on Earth…" he opened the door, nodding at the Professor, "Let's take this slow," and then stepped out of it and into the oval office.

He looked around, stunned, before noticing a tape recorder playing a ringing noise twice before it was answered. The President was there, looking through the window in the back of the room while another man sat at the desk, facing Nixon, both with their backs to the Doctor.

"Hello?" Nixon answered the phone over the recording, "Who is this? This is President Nixon. Who's calling? Is this you again?" the Doctor crept forward.

"Mr. President?" a little girl called.

"A child," the man in the chair, Canton, remarked.

"This is the President. Yes."

"I'm scared Mr. President. I'm scared of the spacemen."

"A little girl," Canton added.

"Boy," Nixon corrected.

"How can you be sure?"

"What spaceman?" the recording continued, "Where are you calling from?" the Doctor pulled out a pen and paper, "Where are you right now? Who are you?"

"Jefferson, Adams, Hamilton."

"Jefferson, listen to me…" the call ended.

"Surely this is something the bureau could handle sir," Canton remarked.

"These calls happen wherever I am," Nixon sighed, "How do I know the bureau isn't involved?" the Doctor had to agree with that logic, "I can't trust anyone…" he turned around, stopping short when he saw the Doctor standing there. Canton stood up as well, turning to face him.

The Doctor glanced up at them a moment and motioned for them to continue, still writing down notes before slowly looking up again, realizing the situation, "Oh! Hello! Bad moment," he started backing up, "Oh, look this is the oval office! I was looking for the uh…" he knocked into a lamp but caught it, "Oblong room…" Nixon reached over on his desk and pressed a security button, "I'll just be off then…shall I?" he spun around…and walked straight into the invisible TARDIS, falling to the ground.

~8~

"Every time," the Professor sighed, hearing the thump as she walked around the console to the monitor.

~8~

"Don't worry," the Doctor popped up again, "Always does that when it's cloaked," suddenly Canton tackled him from behind, knocking him to the floor, "No, stop that!"

~8~

The Professor swung the monitor around and started attaching wires to it.

"He said the scanner wouldn't work," Rory remarked.

"He also threw the manual into a supernova," the Professor reminded him, plugging in a wire. The console sparked a bit but the monitor came to life.

~8~

"Ow!" the Doctor groaned as Secret Service agents entered, two running to Nixon's side.

"Lock down, lock down!" they ordered.

~8~

The small group watched, slightly amused, as the Doctor was pressed into the floor with the Secret Service bearing down on him.

"Um…shouldn't we go help him?" Rory asked.

"In a moment," the Professor waved him off. He'd asked her to stay in the TARDIS while he got to go out there, this was just her small revenge.

~8~

"Not that!" he struggled, "Ow!" he twisted a bit, "Professor, have you got the scanner working yet?"

~8~

She shook her head at him, "Hate you!" she called.

~8~

"No, you don't!" he called back.

"Get the President out of here!" Canton ordered, "Sir, you have to go with them now!"

"Professor, make her blue again!"

And suddenly the TARDIS became visible to Canton and the others, leaving them stunned and shocked, so shocked in fact that the Doctor was able to slip away, unnoticed, as they stared.

"What the hell is that?" Nixon breathed.

The Doctor plopped down at the desk, putting his feet up and looking through a binder, "Mr. President!" he mimicked a southern accent. The guns of the Secret Service cocked and turned to him as he shut the binder, looking at them, unperturbed, "That child just told you everything you need to know. You weren't listening," Canton eyed him, "Never mind 'no's the answer's yes. We'll take the case," he clapped his hands and sighed, seeing them still with the guns, "Fellas, the guns really? I just walked into the highest security office in the United States and parked a big blue box on the rug. You think you could just shoot me?"

"They're Americans!" River shouted, bursting out of the TARDIS with Amy and Rory following, the Professor stepping out after them and shutting the door. The armed men turned their guns on them instead.

The Doctor jumped up, "Don't shoot! Definitely no shooting."

"Nobody shoot us either," Rory put his hands up, "Very much not in need of getting shot…look, we've got our hands up."

"Who the hell are you?" Nixon demanded.

"Sir," Canton cut in, "You need to stay back."

"But who are they? And what is that box!"

"It's a police box, can't you read?" the Doctor asked, dropping his hands, even though the men turned their guns back on him, "We're your new undercover agents on loan from Scotland Yard, me and the lovely girl in the white skirt, code names the Doctor and Professor.

The Professor nodded, stepping forwards just a bit, "These are our top operatives, the Legs, the Nose, and Mrs. Robinson."

"I hate you," River hissed.

"No you don't," she smirked.

"Who are you?" Nixon shook his head.

"Boring question," the Doctor waved him off, "Who's phoning you? That's interesting 'cos Canton Three is right, that was definitely a girl's voice…"

"Which means there's only one place in America she can be phoning from…" the Professor added.

Canton glanced back at her, "Where?"

"Do not engage with the intruders Mr. Delaware!" a black guard shouted.

"You heard everything I heard," the Doctor remarked, "It's simple enough, give us…" he considered it a moment, "Five minutes. We'll explain it. On the other hand, lay a finger on us," he sat down and put his feet up again, "Or our friends and you'll never ever know."

"How'd you get that in here?" Canton pointed back at the TARDIS, "I mean, you didn't carry it…"

"Clever, eh?"

"Love it."

"Do not compliment the intruder!" the guard shouted.

"Five minutes?"

"Five," the Doctor nodded.

"Mr. President that man is a clear and present danger to…" the guard continued.

"Mr. President," Canton cut in, "That man walked in here with a big blue box, a partner, and three of their friends and that's…" he pointed at the guard, "The man he walked past. One of them's worth listening to. I say we give him five minutes. See if he delivers."

"Thanks Canton," the Doctor smiled.

"If he doesn't, I'll shoot him myself."

"No you won't," the Professor remarked.

"And why not?" Canton asked, his attention still on the Doctor.

"'Cos I've got my own gun pointed at the President and I can fire faster than any of you can turn to shoot me," she answered and the armed men stiffened, wanting to turn around but hearing the threat in her voice that she would do so if they turned.

"Sir I…" the guard began.

"Shut up Peterson!" Nixon shouted, able to see the girl with her own odd weapon pointed at him, "Alright…"

Canton eyed the Doctor when the Professor cut in again, "And don't bother trying to shoot him instead, I can disable all your men before they can move."

Canton looked at her, a bit surprised, "Really?"

She smirked and quickly turned to fire a blast, the men moved to turn but the blast bounced off a mirror at the side of the room and streaked past all the men in their line as they turned, grazing their hands and making them drop their weapons. Her gun was back, aimed at Nixon, before they could even blink, "Proof enough?"

Canton actually laughed at the situation, just knowing she was only doing that to spook the guards and wouldn't actually hurt anyone. He looked at her, "Five minutes," he nodded, turning to the guards, "Stand down," they scrambled to grab their guns and round on the Professor, only to see her own gun was gone as well.

The Doctor sat up in the chair, "I'm going to need a swat team ready to mobilize," he called, distracting the guards, "Street over maps covering all of Florida, a pot of coffee, twelve Jammie Dodgers, and a fez," he grinned and sat back, tapping his fingers on the desk excitedly.

"Get him his maps," Canton offered.

~8~

Maps were everywhere as the Doctor and Professor scoured over them, trying to find a location the others couldn't work out. Amy and Rory sat on a sofa across from each other, having given up in the first minute while the Doctor stood with a map in the center of the room. He walked over to the desk, past Canton, while River and the Professor looked over a few on the floor.

"Why Florida?" Canton asked.

"That's where NASA is," the Professor answered, "She kept mentioning spacemen…NASA is where the spacemen live."

"Also…" the Doctor put the map on the desk where Nixon was sitting, "There's another lead we're following."

Amy got up and moved to kneel by River, glancing at the Professor a few feet away, and quickly asked, "Spaceman? What like the one we saw by the lake?"

"Maybe, probably," River stood up.

Amy sighed and got up as well, freezing when she spotted an alien with a large head and small eyes in a black suit standing in the doorway, staring at her. She winced, thinking back to the lake, seeing one there as well, "I remember," she breathed.

Rory stepped in front of her, "Amy? What did you remember?" he stepped to her side and the doorway was empty.

"I don't know," she shook her head, "I just…" she blanched, putting her hand on her stomach.

"Amy what's wrong?" the Professor looked over, seeing her sway.

"Amy?" River called.

"You alright?" the Doctor walked over with another map.

"Yeah, yeah, no, I'm fine," she reassured them, "I'm just feeling a little sick."

"Come on," the Professor stood and walked over to her, putting an arm around her shoulder and leading her over to the guards standing by the door, "Excuse me is there a toilet or something?"

"Sorry ma'am," one of the guards shook his head, "While this procedure's ongoing we must remain within the oval office."

"Shut up and take them to the restroom," Canton called.

The Professor winked back a thanks to him and he nodded.

"This way," the second guard sighed, turning to lead them out of the room.

"The other way up Doctor!" the Professor called over her shoulder as she left with Amy.

The Doctor glanced at the doorway and back at the map, turning it right side up and nodding.

"Your five minutes are up," Canton told him as he moved back to the desk.

"Yeah?" the Doctor scoffed, "And where's my fez?"

~8~

Amy and the Professor moved to head into the bathroom the guard had brought them to when he moved to enter as well.

"Actually," the Professor turned to him, "I'm sure we can manage this alone," he nodded and stepped back.

They entered the bathroom, stopping short at the sight of the suited alien standing in the back of the room.

Amy gasped and the Professor automatically went for her blaster, only to remember she'd been asked to leave it in the TARDIS after her stunt at threatening the President.

"I saw you before," Amy told the alien.

"You have?" the Professor didn't dare chance a glance at her as the alien eyed them, keeping her gaze focused on it.

"At the lake and here," she nodded, "But then I forgot…" she frowned, "How did I forget?"

"What are you?" the Professor asked the alien, she wasn't familiar with that species, or at least she couldn't identify it by its appearance, and that was saying something.

A toilet flushed and a blonde woman with thick glasses walked out and headed to the sink.

"Get back!" Amy shouted, "Stay back from it."

The woman frowned and turned to the alien with a gasp, "Oh my God, what is that? Is that a mask? Is that a Star Trek thing? Ben, is that you?"

"Get back from it now," the Professor called.

The woman turned to them and her expression became confused, "Back from what honey?"

"That!" Amy pointed at the alien behind her.

She turned around and gasped again, "Ah! Oh my God, look at that, is that a Star Trek mask? Ben that's gotta be you. Hang on…did I just say all that?" she moved closer to it.

"No!" the Processor shouted, "You've got to stay back."

The woman turned around, her expression turning confused once more, "Back honey? Back from what?" the Professor frowned, observing her reaction as the lights flickered. The woman looked up, "Oh those lights. They never fix them…"

Electricity started to form along the mirror.

"Look behind you," Amy warned her.

"Behind me?" the woman tilted her head, "There is nothing…" she turned around and screamed.

The alien pointed at her, gathering the electricity, a mouth forming and opening as it struck her with lightning, disintegrating her.

"You didn't have to kill her!" Amy shouted at it, "She couldn't even remember you."

"How does that work?" the Professor eyed it, "We can only remember you while we're seeing you, is that it?" the alien looked at her, "Amy…your camera phone," she whispered.

Amy quickly pulled it out and snapped a picture, glaring at it, "Why did you have to kill her?"

"Joy," it rasped telepathically, "Her name was Joy. And your name is Amelia. You will tell the Doctor and the Professor…"

"Tell us what?" the Professor frowned.

"What you must know," it walked towards them, "And what you must never know."

"How do you know about that?" Amy gasped.

"Know what?" the Professor asked.

"Tell them!" it ordered.

The Professor grabbed Amy's arm and turned to pull her towards the door…

~8~

They ran out of the bathroom, nearly running into the guard as he stood outside, waiting for them.

"You ok?" the guard asked them, noticing their startled appearance and lack of breath.

The Professor blinked, frowning, there was something…an inkling…a nagging she always got when she'd forgotten something, a tingling she had when she'd missed something important…

"We're fine," Amy wrapped her arms over her stomach, perfectly at ease, "Much better thanks."

"What's that?" he nodded at the phone in her hands.

"That's my phone."

"Your phone?"

"I have to tell you and the Doctor…" Amy trailed a moment, glancing at the Professor.

"What did you have to tell us Amy?" the Professor looked at her, the feeling in the pit of her stomach telling her that it was important.

"Sorry," Amy laughed, shaking her head, "I don't know why I said that…"

The guard eyed them a moment before turning, "This way," and leading them back.

~8~

The Doctor was looking at the map intently when the phone rang. They all looked at it.

"The kid?" Canton wondered.

"Should I answer it?" Nixon asked.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" the Doctor cheered, standing, "The only place in the United States that call could be coming from!" he pointed, "See obvious when you think about it?" River walked over with Canton as they looked at the map, Amy and the Professor walking in and over to them.

"You sir are a genius," Canton remarked.

The Doctor stretched and clapped, looking at Nixon, "It's a hobby."

"Mr. President answer the phone," Canton turned to Nixon.

Nixon pressed record and picked up the phone, "Hello? This is President Nixon?"

"It's here!" the girl shouted, "The spaceman is here! It's gonna get me! It's gonna eat me!"

"There's no time for a swat team," the Professor called out, "Let's go!"

The Doctor grabbed his jacket and followed the Professor and the others back towards the TARDIS, "Mr. President tell her help's on the way. Canton on no account follow us into this box and close the door behind you."

"What the hell are you doing?" Canton ran after them, rushing into the TARDIS and shutting the door behind him. The box shook a bit as it disappeared, though he hardly noticed as he took in the large room inside the tiny box.

The Doctor, Professor, and River ran around the console, piloting the TARDIS while Rory stood by the door with Canton, Amy watching them on the glass floor.

"Jefferson isn't a girl's name," the Doctor remarked.

"It's not her name either," the Professor agreed.

"Jefferson, Adams, Hamilton…"

"The surnames of three of America's founding fathers."

"They were lovely fellows," the Doctor remarked lightly.

"Two of them fancied me."

He frowned sourly, "Right, not so lovely fellows."

She laughed and patted his cheek, "Too bad for them there's only one man I want to fancy me."

The Doctor spun to her, "Who?" she just gave him a look and he smiled, "Right, yes, me," and then he leaned in to give her a kiss when River moved between them, flicking a switch.

"No time," she reminded them, getting them back to work.

Canton spun around in shock, trying to take it all in, "You ok?" Rory asked him, "Coping?"

"You see the President asked the child two questions," the Doctor continued, "Where are you and who are you."

"She was answering where," the Professor nodded.

"It's bigger on the inside…" Canton breathed.

"Yeah…you get used to it…" Rory offered.

"Now, where would we find three big historical names on a road map?" the Professor grinned at the Doctor.

"Where?" Amy asked.

"Here!" the Doctor pulled a lever and the TARDIS landed, "Come on!" they ran for the door but Canton stopped them.

"It's uh…" he shook his head, not knowing what to say.

The Professor looked at Rory, "Can you take care of this? Thanks!"

And then they ran out.

"Why is it always my turn?" Rory mock whined.

"Because you're the newest," Amy kissed him on the cheek and ran out after the others, only to see they were now in a disused warehouse, "Where are we?"

It was dark and dusty, boxes scattered everywhere. The Doctor was sitting in a chair, waving a little American flag.

"About five miles from Kennedy Space Center," the Professor remarked, looking outside the window, making sure they were in the right place, nodding as she saw something and turned to examine the room.

"It's 1969, the year of the moon," the Doctor added as River and Amy turned on their torches, "Interesting don't you think?"

"But why would a little girl be here?" Amy frowned.

"Don't know, lost maybe. The President asked her where she was so she did what any lost little girl would do," he got up and walked to the window, pulling down the blinds as River checked a phone nearby, "She looked out of the window," he spotted three street signs with the surnames on them.

"Streets!" Amy laughed as River beckoned the Professor over to the phone, holding it out to her, "Of course, they're street names."

"Only place in Florida, probably all of America with those three street names on the same junction. And Professor," she glanced up to see him leaning against the window, looking at her, "You've got that face on again."

"What face?" she smirked.

"The 'he's hot when he's clever' face."

"This is my normal face."

"Yes it is."

"Oh, you love it," she joked as well.

"That I do."

She laughed and walked over to him, "And I love your 'she's so sexy when she's holding a gun' face."

He blushed as she said that out loud for River and Amy to hear. He walked over to the phone and picked it up as well, pausing to look at it, confused, and then over to the Professor who nodded.

"It's moved!" Canton exclaimed as he and Rory stepped out to look around, "How…how can we have moved?" he laughed.

"We haven't even got to space travel yet?" the Doctor remarked, walking over.

Rory shut the door, "I was going to cover it with time travel…"

"Time travel?" Canton gaped.

"Brave heart, Canton, come on!" the Doctor clapped his hands and walked off where the Professor was standing by a back door.

"So we're in a box that's bigger on the inside and travels through time and space…" Canton began.

"Yeah, basically," Rory nodded.

"How long has Scotland Yard had this?"

"It's a warehouse of some kind…disused," River commented as they walked through a dark warehouse storeroom.

"You realize this is almost certainly a trap of course," the Professor added.

"I noticed the phone yes."

"What about it?" Amy frowned.

"It's cut off, so how did the child phone from here."

"Ok, but why would anyone want to trap us?"

"Don't know," the Doctor chimed in, "Let's see if anyone tries to kill us and work backwards."

"Now why would a little girl be here?" River wondered.

"Don't know. Let's find her and ask her."

The Professor did a quick scan of the room and frowned, spotting an examination table, walking over to it and with just a glance could determine…"Its non-terrestrial," she told the Doctor, "Definitely alien. Not even from this time zone."

"Which is odd because look at this!" the Doctor rummaged through a crate containing a NASA astronaut suit.

"It's Earth tech!" River's eyes widened, walking over, "Contemporary."

"It's very contemporary! Cutting edge," he lifted up the helmet and stared, "This is from the space program!"

"Stolen?"

"By aliens?" Amy eyed it oddly.

"Apparently," the Doctor nodded, putting on the helmet.

"But why? I mean, if you could make it all the way to Earth, why steal technology that can barely make it to the moon?"

"Maybe 'cos it's cooler!" he said, his voice muffled by the visor. He lifted it up, grinning, "Look how cool this stuff is!"

"Cool aliens?"

"Well what would you call us?" he gestured at himself and the Professor.

"Aliens."

"Oi!" they both called, the Doctor pulling off the helmet.

"I, uh, I think he's ok now," Rory called, pointing his light at Canton who was looking up, calm.

"Ah, back with us Canton?" the Doctor asked.

"I like your wheels," he remarked.

"That's my boy," he patted the man's shoulder and walked past, "So come on, little girl, let's find her," the Professor got up and walked over to the spacesuit, examining it as River took over by the examination table, examining a wire with her scanner.

"So River…" Amy walked over, being quiet as the Professor was nearby.

"I know what you're thinking," River cut in.

"No you don't."

"You're thinking if we can find the spaceman in 1969 and neutralize it then it won't be around in 2011 to kill the Doctor and the Professor."

"Ok," Amy frowned, that was surprisingly similar to how the Professor had guessed her plan when they'd been in Venice, "Lucky guess."

"It's only 'cos I was thinking it too."

"So let's do it."

"It doesn't work like that. We came here because of what we saw in the future, if we try and prevent the future from happening we create a paradox."

"Time can be rewritten."

"Not all of it."

"Says who?"

"Who do you think? What's this?" she peered around the table to see a wire running from it down a manhole.

"We can still save…"

"Doctor!" River called, "Professor! Look at this!" they walked over as she moved the covering.

"So where does that go?" the Doctor wondered.

River held her scanner up, "There's a network of tunnels running under here."

"Life signs?" the Professor asked.

"No, nothing that's showing up…"

"That's the worst kind," the Doctor muttered as River started going down, "Be careful!"

"Careful?" River scoffed, looking up, "Tried that once. Ever so dull."

"Shout if you get in trouble," the Professor told her.

"Don't worry, I'm quite the screamer," she laughed, "Now there's a spoiler for you."

"So what's going on?" Canton asked.

"Uh, nothing," the Doctor spun around, a bit embarrassed by what River had said, before turning to the Professor and insisting, "She's just a friend."

She laughed, knowing River had only said it to get a rise out of him, "I know."

Rory stepped over and whispered, "I think he's talking about the possible alien incursion…"

The Doctor smiled bashfully, "Ok!" he patted Rory on the shoulder and moved past him, patting Canton on his way, the Professor shaking her head as she followed.

~8~

"So," Canton began as he looked at a few jars on a table across from Amy, "I was in a bar having a drink, tell me honestly, am I still there?"

"'Fraid not," Amy shook her head.

"All clear!" River called as she came up from the tunnel, "Just tunnels. Nothing down there I can see. Give me five minutes, I want to take another look around."

"Stupidly dangerous!" the Doctor called.

"Yup! I like it too! Amy help the Professor look after the Doctor," and she headed back down as the Doctor rolled his eyes.

"Rory would you mind going with her?" the Professor asked him.

"Yeah, a bit," he nodded.

"Then we appreciate it all the more," the Doctor clapped him on the back.

"Hang on River, I'm coming too," Rory sighed and headed down the hole as well.

~8~

Canton was looking at a mucus covered wire when Amy came up, "So, you were kicked out of the FBI because you had attitude problems."

"No, I just wanted to get married."

"Is that a crime?"

"Yes. Doctor who? Professor of what? Exactly?"

"That's classified."

"Classified by who?"

"God knows."

"But you work for them."

"They're my friends. If friend is the right word. I haven't seen them in a while. I had something I wanted to tell them…but stuff always gets in the way."

"Stuff does that."

"Help me!" a little girl shouted. They all looked up at the sound, "Help! Help me!"

"That's her!" Canton pulled out his gun and ran off after the voice.

The Doctor and Professor moved to follow when Amy suddenly hunched over in pain.

"Amy?" the Professor ran over to her, "What's wrong?" she grabbed the girl's hand.

"I need to tell you both something, it's important!" she told them, "It's really, really important!"

"Doctor, Professor, quickly!" Canton called in the distance.

"What, now?" the Doctor turned to Amy before pulling her up, they ran after Canton.

The Professor pulled them back, her blaster in hand, motioning for them to wait before peering around the corner a moment. She ran out, her blaster out but not firing, and they took that as their cue to follow.

"Canton!" the Doctor spotted the man lying on his stomach, knocked out, "Canton are you ok?"

They knelt at his side, the Professor putting a hand to the man's neck, checking his pulse as the Doctor soniced him.

"Is he alright?" Amy asked.

"Just unconscious," he nodded, "Got a proper whack at him."

"Doctor, Professor," Amy tried again, "I have to tell you something, I have to tell you it  _now_."

"Not a great moment Amy," the Professor remarked, the pit in her stomach growing at how insistant Amy was being, why it had to be now, so suddenly...something was wrong...

"No, it's important. It has to be now."

"Help!" they heard the girl shout, "Help me!" the Doctor and Professor turned to look for the girl as Amy knelt down before them, "Help me!"

"Doctor…Professor…I'm pregnant," they looked at her, stunned, when the sound of boots stomping reached them. They looked over to see someone in a spacesuit enter and stood slowly, "That's it…the astronaut…"

As it raised its arm Amy turned and grabbed Canton's gun that had fallen to the ground.

The Doctor and Professor watched as the visor lifted to reveal a little girl, "Help me!"

"Get down!" Amy shouted.

The Doctor looked over to see Amy with the gun, "What are you doing?"

"Saving your lives!" she spun and fired, screaming when she spotted the little girl within.

"NO!" the Doctor shouted.

To be continued...

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I read somewhere on the DW website that the scenes at the beginning where the Doctor is waving at the Ponds through history take place after he says goodbye to them after God Complex. But I couldn't help but feel like it would be easier on them and him to not constantly have him saying hello after saying goodbye so I'm putting that at the beginning. Just imagine that the Doctor/Professor who see Amy and Rory at the start of the series, when they go to the lake, are recalling that their past selves had waved out at them in that point in time and that is what they are referring to.
> 
> I really felt bad for River, thinking on this chapter, her telling Rory she's afraid of the day when the Doctor and Professor look at her and don't know her, but we know it'll be so much worse because the Professor will be treating her like she could be the enemy half the time. Poor River...
> 
> Just a few hints about the next chapter: The Doctor will get an idea of how Rory and Amy felt after their 2,000 year separation. We will have the beginning of a slightly suggestive scene. And a heart breaking realization for the Doctor.
> 
> There'll also be a small reference to the first episode of the BBC's Robin Hood, virtual cookie to anyone who spots it :)


	3. Day of the Moon

The Doctor ran to help Canton up while Amy stared at the Professor in shock as she lowered her blaster from where it was aimed at the child…no, at the bullet that had been flying towards the girl in the spacesuit. As soon as Amy fired, the Professor had somehow managed to blast the bullet to bits.

"Amy!" the Doctor shouted, "Amy!"

"Come on!" the Professor grabbed her arm and pulled her after the Doctor and Canton.

They ran back into the main room as Rory and River climbed out from under the tunnels and ran back for the room where the TARDIS was hidden.

"What the hell's going on?" Canton pulled away from the Doctor.

"Look behind you!" the Professor shouted.

"There's nothing behind me!"

"Look!" the Doctor insisted, "Canton, look!"

Canton turned around to see one of the aliens walking towards him, electricity crackling around it…

~8~

Three months later...

Canton and another man in a suit walked past signs that read 'Do Not Approach the Prisoner,' towards a black platform with a yellow circle around it. The Doctor sat on a chair in the middle of the circle, armed guards around him. He was chained up, wearing a straightjacket to keep him at bay, his hair longer and more unkempt as it had been nearly three months since he'd been captured, he even had a beard. Lights were set up around him as he watched Canton walk towards him.

"All visitors to remain behind the yellow line," a voice spoke over the loudspeaker, "All visitors to remain behind the yellow line."

"We found Amy Pond," Canton held up an envelope with pictures in it, "She had strange markings on her arm," he pulled one out which showed Amy's arm on the ground, tally marks on it, "Do you know what they are?" he tossed them down on the yellow ring.

"Why don't you ask her?" he eyed the man.

Canton just smirked.

~8~

The Doctor watched as two lab coated scientists, a man and woman, placed a black brick on the wall they were building around the platform.

"We found Dr. Song," Canton spoke up from the other side.

"These bricks, what are they made of?" he asked, but there was no reply, "Where is she?"

"She ran. Off the 50th floor."

"Zero balance dwarf star alloy," he watched as the crack between blocks faded and sealed, "The densest material in the Universe. Nothing gets through that…" he eyed the blocks a moment, "You're building me the perfect prison…" and then over at Canton with a glare, "And it still won't be enough."

~8~

Canton smirked as he walked into the small black prison constructed around the Doctor, the only section open to the world was a bricked out door. Two soldiers dragged a body bag each behind them, following him.

"Is there a reason you're doing this?" the Doctor asked him.

"I want you to know where you stand," Canton replied.

"In a cell."

Canton nodded at the soldiers and they left the body bags, walking out, "In a  _perfect_  cell," he corrected, "Nothing can penetrate these walls. Not a sound, not a radio wave," he put his fingers into a cube with five holes cut into it. It lit up and the open space filled in, "Not the tiniest particle of anything. In here, you're cut off from literally the rest of the Universe," the door sealed shut, "So I guess they can't hear us right?"

"Good work Canton," he grinned, "Door's sealed?"

"You bet," Canton nodded.

He stood up and pulled his chains and jacket off as Amy and Rory sat up in the bags with a gasp, struggling to get out of them. Rory succeeded first, the Doctor walking over to him to check on him.

"You ok?" the Doctor asked.

"Finally!" Amy panted as she got out of the bag.

"These things could really do with air holes!" Rory remarked.

"Never had a complaint before," Canton shrugged.

"Isn't it gonna look odd that you're staying in here with us?" Amy asked as the Doctor stretched and wound his arms.

"Odd, but not alarming. They know there's no way out of this place."

"Exactly!" the Doctor cheered, "Whatever they might think we're doing in here…" he snapped his braces, "They know we're not going anywhere," he began to grin as a familiar wheezing sounded.

Moments later, the TARDIS appeared, the door popping open as the Professor stuck her head out, smirking, "Someone call for a cab?"

The Doctor just strode right over to her and gave her a deep kiss, half pushing her back into the TARDIS as he pressed her into the wall beside the doors, desperately clinging to her, three months without her had been far too long, he could agree with John Smith there. She kissed him back, having missed him as well, it had truly been torture to stay apart from each other those months, much worse than the few days he'd been at Craig's.

Amy, Rory, and Canton walked into the TARDIS, pausing when the couple by the door didn't break apart for a few more moments.

"Doctor?" Amy tried to get his attention, to pull the two aliens back to the matter at hand.

But the Doctor ignored her, one of his hands moving to tangle in the Professor's hair, the other trailing down her body to rest on her hip as she pulled him closer, her arms around his neck.

"Um...Professor?" Rory also tried his hand at separating them.

The Doctor pulled his hand away from the Professor's hair and held up a finger at the humans before it returned, tilting her head back a bit as he stepped even closer to her, pressing himself against her. The Professor made a little gasp and he took full advantage of it, exploring her mouth as he loved exploring everything.

Amy and Rory exchanged a look when the aliens continued to kiss before them, both unsure of what they should or could do to stop the situation from escalating.

"Daleks!" Amy shouted in a last ditch effort. The Doctor's hand had just begun to make its way just under the edge of the Professor's shirt, brushing along the skin of her side.

The Doctor pulled away quickly, spinning around with a wide look in his eye, as though truly believing a Dalek could have made its way into the TARDIS.

The Professor giggled behind him and he relaxed, glaring a bit at the humans, "Not nice," he muttered to them, though his face was flaming in embarassment at having gotten so caught up in the moment. But...he'd missed her... _so much_. He turned around and pulled her into a hug, just happy to have her in his arms again.

Amy rolled her eyes, "It's been  _three months_ ," she reminded him, "You didn't let Rory and I go on that long and we'd been apart  _2,000 years_!"

"1,894," the Professor corrected, rubbing her cheek lightly, the Doctor's beard had tickled her.

He rested his forehead against hers, just smiling, taking a single moment to revel in the fact they were together again before he turned to face the others, ready to get back to business, "Shall we?"

"What about Dr. Song?" Canton asked as the Doctor made his way to the console, "She dove off a rooftop!"

"Don't worry. She does that."

"Amy, Rory," the Professor closed the doors, "Open all the doors to the swimming pool!"

She ran over to the console to help the Doctor, the two of them piloting the ship as Amy and Rory ran out.

A moment later there was a splash as River dove into the pool.

~8~

The Doctor and the Professor danced around the console, the Doctor in his jacket once more though still with the beard, "So! What do we know?"

"They're everywhere," the Professor stated, looking at a monitor. She'd been monitoring Amy, Rory, and River, as well as the Doctor, from the TARDIS during the last three months, recording as much information as they could collect into the TARDIS mainframe, but it wasn't enough and it didn't remain for long, "Not just the landing party, but an occupied force. They've been here a very, very long time."

The Doctor nodded, "And nobody knows that because nobody can remember…"

River walked over to them, drying her hair with a towel, now dressed in an greenish-gray, sleeveless dress with boots and leggings.

"So what are they up to?" Canton asked.

"No idea," he sighed, "But the good news is..." the TARDIS jolted, "We've got a secret weapon," they ran out of the door to the bottom of a launch site, looking up at Apollo 11.

"Apollo 11's your secret weapon?" River asked.

"No, no! It's not Apollo 11, that would be silly. It's Neil Armstrong's foot."

"Which is not silly at all," the Professor remarked sarcastically. The Doctor just smiled and nodded before dashing back into the TARDIS.

He popped out a moment later and looked at her, "Was that sarcasm?"

"No," she replied, equally sarcastic, "Not at all."

He nodded and ran in, leaving the group to chuckle. The Professor shook her head and made her way after him, leaving the group to view the shuttle. She stepped into the TARDIS only to be pulled back into the Doctor's arms and kissed to the point of breathlessness.

She smiled as he pulled away, "What was that for?"

"Missed you," he whispered, pulling her close.

"I missed you too," she reached out and touched his cheek before crinkling her nose, "But I'll tell you one thing I won't miss...that beard!" he laughed at her, "And that smell," he frowned and sniffed himself, his own nose scrunching at the smell, "You need a shower. Badly."

His grimace morphed into a small smirk, "Yes, I do, and I believe that I may be the one in need of 'help' this time dear," he gave her a suggestive look.

Her smile grew a bit sad as she stroked his cheek, "Believe me, my love, I would love nothing more than to help my husband..."

He frowned, "But..." she looked away and he reached out, slowly turning her head to face him, "What is it Kata?"

She pressed his hand against her cheek, taking a breath, "I'll tell you later," he opened his mouth to speak but she shook her head, "Trust me Theta, now is not the time. Now...for now we need to focus on finding out what's going on," he hesitated, "I  _will_  tell you, I promise, but not now," she stepped back a moment, "Go shower, I'll refresh the information in the TARDIS for when you're done and we can draw up a plan with the others."

"If you're sure..." he eyed her a moment. In all the time they'd been Bonded, save when she'd regenerated into a soldier, she had never turned down any chance at spending such a moment with him, not when they had the time to take it. Something was wrong here, but he had to trust her, trust that she would tell him, and he knew she would.

She nodded, "Go."

He nodded as well, leaning in to kiss her quickly before dashing off up the stairs. The sooner he was all cleaned up and they solved this mystery the sooner they could talk and he could find out what was bothering her.

~8~

"Ow!" Canton cried as the Doctor shot something into his hand.

"So!" the Doctor, now with a clean shaven face and trimmed hair, looked at the group, "Three months, what have we found out?"

"Well, they are everywhere, every state in America," Rory said before the Doctor shot his hand, "AH!"

"Not just America, the entire world," the Professor corrected as she brought it up on the monitor.

"There's a greater concentration here though," River joined her, zeroing the scans into the U.S..

"OW!" Amy glared as the Doctor shot her hand as well.

"Are you ok?" the Doctor asked her quietly.

"All better."

"Better?"

"Turns out I was wrong," she glanced at Rory as he approached and added quietly, "I'm not pregnant."

"What's up?" Rory walked over.

"Nothing. Really, nothing, seriously…"

The Doctor walked away.

"So you've seen them, but you don't remember them?" Canton tried to understand.

"You've seen them too, that night at the warehouse," River looked over, "Remember? While you were pretending to hunt us down we saw hundreds of those things. We still don't know what they look like."

The Doctor picked up the Professor's hand, giving her a small kiss on the palm before shooting her hand as well, she didn't even flinch.

"It's like they edit themselves out of your memory as soon as you look away," Rory sighed, "The exact second you're not looking at them you can't remember anything."

"Sometimes you feel a bit sick though but not always," Amy added.

"So that's why you marked your skin," Canton realized.

"Only way we'd know if we had an encounter."

"How long have they been here?"

"That's what we've spent the last three months trying to find out."

The Doctor looked at the Professor, ' _Have you set it up?_ '

She nodded and walked around the console to the controls.

"Not easy if you can't remember anything you discover," Rory remarked.

"How long do you think?" Canton asked.

"As long as there's been something in the corner of your eye," the Doctor said as he walked towards Canton, "Or creaking in your house, or breathing under your bed, or voices through a wall. They've been running your lives for a very long time now so keep this straight in your head. We are not fighting an alien invasion, we're leading a revolution. And today the battle begins."

"How?"

"Like this…" he subtly moved his gun and shot River's hand too.

"AHH!" she jerked her hand away.

The Doctor laughed.

"Nano recorder," the Professor explained, walking over to him and taking the gun from him, showing them the capsule before she put it in the gun.

"Fuses with the cartilage in your hand," the Doctor added before wincing as she shot him as well.

She gave him a small peck on the cheek before turning to the others, "It tunes itself directly to the speech centers in your brain."

"It'll pick up your voice no matter what."

"Telepathic connection."

"So, the moment you see one of the creatures…" he pushed on the center of his palm with his middle finger, making it glow red.

"You activate it."

"And describe aloud exactly what you see," he tapped his hand with his other finger and it played again, "And describe aloud exactly what you see…" he dropped his hand, "Because when you break contact you're going to forget it happened."

"The light will flash if you've left yourself a message."

He held up his hand again, "Keep checking your hand. If you've had an encounter, that's the first you'll know about it."

Canton looked between the two of them and turned to the trio of humans, "Do they…"

"Yes," they all said at once, the Doctor and Professor just smirking at each other. They were trying to run a tally of how many people asked them that.

Canton shook his head, "Why didn't you tell me this before we started?"

"We did," the Professor told him, walking to the console, pushing a button, "But even information about these creatures erases itself over time."

"I couldn't refresh it because I couldn't talk to you," the Doctor nodded.

Canton looked over his shoulder a moment before turning back to the Doctor and reaching out to straighten his bow tie, only to hesitate, seeing Amy, Rory, and River now staring him along with the Doctor and Professor, "What? What are you staring at?"

"Look at your hand," River told him.

He glanced down to see it blinking red, "Why's it doing that?"

"What does it mean if the light's flashing?" the Doctor asked, "What did we just tell you?"

"But I haven't…"

"Play it," the Professor ordered him softly.

Canton pushed the button and heard himself say, "My God, how did it get in here?"

"Keep eye contact with the creature," the Professor instructed him over the recording.

"When I say," the Doctor added, "Turn back and, when you do, straighten my bow tie."

He slowly turned again as the recording finished up, "What? What are you staring at?"

"Look at your hand," River's voice ended it.

His eyes widened, seeing the creature, the alien in the suit, standing there.

"It's a hologram extrapolated from a photo on Amy's phone," the Professor explained as they all looked at it, "Take a good, long look."

It faded out and the Doctor turned to them, "You just saw an image of one of the creatures we're fighting," he snapped his fingers, "Describe it to me," he snapped them at Canton.

"I can't," Canton blinked, startled.

"No, neither can I," the Doctor sighed.

"Nor me," the Professor added, "Which is  _really_  frustrating by the way."

The Doctor gave her a small, humorous smile and dropped a kiss onto her head before turning to Canton, "You straightened my bow tie because I planted the idea in your head while you were looking at the creature."

"So they could do that to people," Amy realized, "You could be doing stuff and not really knowing why you're doing it."

"Like posthypnotic suggestion," Rory nodded.

"Ruling the world with posthypnotic suggestion…"

"Now then, a little girl in a spacesuit," the Doctor walked over to the console, "They got the suit from NASA but where did they get the girl?"

"Could be anywhere," Canton shrugged.

"Except they probably stayed close to that warehouse," the Professor reasoned, "Because why bother doing anything else? And they take her from somewhere that would cause the least amount of attention," she moved over to the Doctor's side as he brought up a map with three red dots.

"But you'll have to find her," the Doctor told them, "We're off to NASA."

"Find her?" Canton scoffed, "Where do we look?"

The Professor hit a button and the map zoomed in to one dot, "Children's homes."

~8~

The Doctor was crouched down outside the capsule of Apollo 11 with a pout on his face as the Professor had beaten him to the pod and was lying inside, a mess of wires above her, working on reconfiguring them. He supposed he should have been more cross that she got to have the fun of updating the shuttle…but there was something about watching her work…

His thoughts were cut off when something beeped. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a headset-like device, slipping it on, "Amy?"

"I think we found the place she was taken from," Amy replied.

"How do you know?"

"'Cos those things have been here. The whole place is deserted. There's just one guy here and I think he's lost it."

"Repeated memory wipes must fry your head eventually," the Professor mumbled from inside the pod.

"Find out what you can," the Doctor continued, "But don't hang around."

"Where are you?"

The Doctor looked up, spotting two scientists in lab coats stop short at the sight of them, "Gotta go," he took off the headset and reached into the pod, putting a hand on the Professor's knee, "We've got company dear."

She slammed the panel she was working on closed and sat up to see two NASA scientists standing there, "Don't worry," she reassured them, "I've put everything back the way I found it. Be glad it wasn't this one here," she nodded at the Doctor, "I guarantee he'd probably have accidently reprogrammed the entire shuttle to head for Venus instead."

"That only happened once!"

~8~

The Doctor and Professor were sitting, handcuffed, in the lecture hall of the base, the chalkboard full of scientific equations and diagrams. There was a man in a white shirt and black tie sitting across from them in another chair while a similarly dressed man stood behind him, with a soldier guarding the door behind the Time Lords.

"Now one more time," the seated man began, "How the hell did you get into the command module?"

"Oh, she already told you," the Doctor rolled his eyes, "We're on a top secret mission for the President," and then he attempted biting through the links of his cuffs.

"Well maybe if you just get President Nixon to assure us of that sir, that would be swell," they started laughing.

The Professor smirked as the Doctor released his links, "I sent him a message."

The man mouthed 'oh' just as the doors on the other side of the room opened and Nixon walked through with River in a blue skirt suit and Rory wearing a suit and glasses on either side of him, the TARDIS visible in the back.

"Hello!" Nixon called. The Doctor waved his finger tips at the man as the Professor gave a light salute, the men spinning around and standing, stunned, "I believe it's Mr. Gardner is that correct?" he shook the formerly seated man's hand, "Head of Security?"

"Uh, yes sir!" Gardner shook his head, "Yes Mr. President."

"Mr. Grant, is it?" Nixon turned to shake the other man's hand.

"Yes Mr. President!" Grant grinned.

"The hopes and dreams of millions of Americans stand here today at Cape Kennedy. And you're the men who guard those dreams. On behalf of the American people, I thank you."

"You're welcome Mr. President," Gardner beamed.

"I understand you have a baby on the way Mr. Grant."

"Yes Mr. President," Grant nodded.

"What are you hoping for? Boy or a girl?"

"Just a healthy American sir."

The Professor eyed Rory as he turned to look at a miniature module of the Apollo 11.

Nixon laughed joyfully, "A healthy American will do just nicely!" he punched the man's shoulder playfully, before stepping back, "Now, fellas, listen to me, these two here, code names the Doctor and the Professor," the men looked back at the duo who waved at them, "Are doing some work for me personally. Could you uh, cut them a little slack?"

"Uh, Mr. President, she broke into Apollo 11," Gardner told him.

Nixon looked at the Professor who smiled bashfully and mouthed 'sorry' while the Doctor laughed silently beside her till she elbowed him in the side.

"Well, I'm uh," he floundered, "I'm sure she had a very good reason for that. But I need you to release them now so we can get on with some very important work for the American people. Could you do that for me?"

"Well…" Grant began.

"Son, I am your Commander in Chief."

"Then I guess that would be fine. Mr. President," Gardner nodded.

"Glad to hear it."

Gardner motioned for the guard to release the Time Lords which he did.

"Thank you!" the Doctor stood, shaking Grant's hand, "Buh bye," and then Gardner's, as did the Professor. He snapped and pointed at the President before taking the Professor's hand and strolling back to the TARDIS.

"Carry on gentlemen," Nixon nodded at them before turning and following the duo. River followed him as Rory picked up a piece of the module, accidently snapping it off. He tried to stick it back on but gave up and placed it on the table.

He turned to the two men and cleared his throat, "America salutes you," he saluted them and turned back to the TARDIS, shutting the door behind him.

~8~

"You have to tape everything that happens in this office," the Professor instructed Nixon as he sat at his desk back in the oval office, "Every word or we won't know if you're under the influence."

"You have to give me more than this!" Nixon stood, "What were you doing to Apollo 11?"

"A thing, a clever thing," the Doctor told him, "Now no more questions," he leaned against the desk, "You have to trust us and nobody else."

River suddenly opened the door to the TARDIS and peered out with a comm. in her hand, "Doctor, Professor, it's Canton!" they turned and ran in, "Quick he needs us!"

~8~

The Doctor, Professor, Rory, and River ran up the stairs of the children's home to hear Amy shouting, "Help me! Please, I can't…I can't see!" there was a bang as someone shoved against a door, "Somebody help me!"

"Amy!" Canton shouted, "Amy can you hear me? Amy I'm gonna try and blow the lock I need you to stand back."

The Doctor jumped up the last stair as Canton aimed his gun and ran over, "Ok, gun down, I've got it!" he pulled out the sonic and grabbed the knob.

"Amy!" Rory ran over, "We're here, are you ok?"

"I can't see!" Amy shouted.

The Doctor struggled to get the lock open when, "Move!" the Professor shouted. He jumped back just as she kicked the door open. Canton took only a moment to look at the girl, impressed with her strength, before running into the room with the Doctor, Rory, and River, the Professor in the rear.

"Where is she Doctor?" Rory looked around, finding that they were clearly in a little girl's room but with no Amy in sight, just a spacesuit on the ground.

"It's empty," River opened the visor of the suit as the Doctor scanned it.

"It's dark, so dark," Amy's voice continued. They looked down to see the red nano recorder blinking on the floor. The Professor knelt down and picked it up, "I don't know where I am. Please can anybody hear me?"

She turned and gently handed it to Rory who held it in his two hands, "They took this out of her…" he looked at her, stunned, "How did they do that Professor?" Amy whimpered and cried, "Why can I still hear her?"

The Doctor walked forward sadly and soniced the recorder.

"Is it a recording?" River asked.

"It defaults to live," the Doctor explained, "This is current. Wherever she is right now, this is what she's saying."

"Amy can you hear me?" Rory spoke into the recorder, "We're coming for you. Wherever you are we're coming, I swear."

"She can't hear you. I'm so sorry, it's one-way."

"She can always hear me Doctor. Always. Wherever she is. And she always knows that I am coming for her. Do you understand me? Always."

The Doctor glanced at the the Professor and nodded, "I understand perfectly," he said quietly. The Professor gave him a small smile at that, she understood as well. There was nothing in the Universe that would keep them from each other, from finding each other, nothing at all.

"Doctor?" Amy called out and Rory looked down, "Are you out there? Can you hear me? Professor? Oh come on," she started to cry, "Please…please Doctor just get me out of here…"

Rory looked up at him, "He's coming. I'll bring the both of them, I swear."

The Doctor looked over at the Professor to see her now staring at the wall just above a set of pictures on a small table. He opened his mouth to ask her what she was looking at so intently when a there was a shout behind them.

"Hello?" someone called from the hallway, Canton quickly raised his gun as the Professor spun around with her blaster, only to see the director of the establishment walking towards them, looking dazed and confused, "Is somebody there?" they lowered their weapons as the man appeared in the doorway, "I think someone has been shot. I think we should help…I think…" he shook his head, "I can't rem…I can't remember."

The Doctor and Professor bolted out of the room and ran after the director as he led them to his office where a wounded alien was crouched on the ground, struggling to get back from them. Canton shone his light on it as did Rory and River, the two Time Lords kneeling down before it.

"Who and what are you?" the Professor asked it, done playing games with the aliens that had taken their friend.

"Silence, Professor," it rasped telepathically, "We are the Silence."

The Doctor frowned, thinking back to all the mentions of the Silence, Prisoner Zero, Rosanna…

"And silence will fall…" it rasped.

~8~

A small black and white television was set up in the warehouse as the Doctor and River examined the spacesuit, Rory standing a few feet away, watching, while the Professor stood beside him, her arm around his shoulder, trying to comfort him, leaving the scanning and examination to the Doctor and River for once. Canton had gone back with the injured Silent to try and get it to talk.

"The target of the Apollo 11 astronauts, the moon," the announcer was saying, "At liftoff will be at a distance of 218,096 miles away. We've just passed the two minute mark of the countdown. T minus 1 minute 54 seconds and counting…"

"It's an exoskeleton," River stated, "Basic life-support. There's about 20 different kinds of alien tech in here."

"Who was she?" the Doctor wondered, "Why put her in here?"

"Put this on you don't even need to eat. See it processes sunlight directly, it's got built in weaponry, and a communication system that can hack into anything."

"Including the telephone network?"

"Easily."

"Why phone the President?"

"It defaults to the highest authority it can find," the Professor guessed.

River nodded, "The little girl gets frightened, the most powerful man on Earth gets a phone call," the Doctor walked off to the side and sniffed the blue envelope he and the Professor had gotten, "They're night terrors with a hotline to the White House," she glanced up to see him licking it, "You won't learn anything from that envelope you know."

"Purchased on Earth, perfectly ordinary stationary, TARDIS blue," he listed, "And that's only what  _I_  learned from it," he cast a glance at the Professor. River stiffened a bit, "But she's not saying yet."

"She always did like figuring out a full puzzle first," River remarked.

The Doctor gave her a look at how she knew that before continuing, "Summoned by a stranger who won't even show his face. That's a first for me how about you?"

River stood up, "Our lives are back to front. Your future's my past. Your firsts are my lasts."

"Not really what I asked."

"Ask something else then."

"What are the Silence doing raising a child?" the Professor offered.

"Keeping her safe," River crouched back down to examine the suit more, "Even giving her independence."

"The only way to save Amy is to work out what the Silence is doing," the Doctor started to pace.

"I know," Rory remarked.

"And every single thing we learn about them brings us a step closer."

"Yeah, Doctor, I get it. I know."

"It's possible she's not just any little girl," the Professor said, in thought.

"Well, I'd say she's human going by the life-support software," River countered.

The Professor shook her head, the Silence wouldn't go through all that trouble for a simple human, not when there were billions of other humans on the planet they could use. No, there had to be something different about this one. Perhaps an humanoid alien? An alien hiding as a human? A human/alien hybrid? She was getting frustrated, if only she could come in contact with the child, scan her, then they'd know...

"But…" the Doctor looked between the two, seeing the Professor's expression and sensing a 'but' from River.

"She climbed out of the suit," River said as the Professor nodded, her suspicions confirmed a bit more, not an ordinary human then, not that there was such a thing, "She literally  _forced_ her way out," River picked up one of the torn wires to show them, "She must be incredibly strong."

"Incredibly strong and running away," the Doctor crouched down, "I like her," he smiled and looked at the Professor, "She reminds me of you."

"Funny," she smiled, "I was going to say the same about you."

He laughed.

"We should be trying to find her," River reminded them, not about to let them start a flirting match.

"Yes, I know, but how?" he asked, "You know, I have the strangest feeling she's going to find us."

"Oh, uh, Huston how do you read over?" the television continued.

"Why does it look like a NASA spacesuit?" Rory asked, eyeing the suit.

"Because that's what the Silence do," the Doctor shrugged, "Think about it."

"They don't make anything themselves," the Professor explained, "Because they don't have to, they get other life forms to do it for them."

"So they're parasites then?" River frowned.

"Super parasites," the Doctor nodded, "Standing in the shadows of human history since the very beginning."

"We know they can influence human behavior anyway they want…" the Professor sighed.

"If they've been doing that on a global scale for thousands of years…"

"Then what?" Rory frowned.

"Then why did the human race suddenly decide to go to the moon?" the Professor finished, glancing at the TV.

"10, 9, ignition sequence started. 6, 5, 4…"

"Because the Silence needed a spacesuit," the Doctor said.

"1, 0…all engines on. Lift off. We have a lift off. 32 minutes past the hour, lift off on Apollo 11."

~8~

The comm. device in the Doctor's hands beeped and he quickly opened it up to a video message from Canton, a Silent appeared, saying, 'You should kill us all on sight.'

He smirked a bit at that, handing it over to the Professor to look at as River continued to examine the suit.

"This suit…" River muttered as it twitched, "It seems to be repairing itself. How is it doing that? Doctor…a unit like this…would it ever be able to move without an occupant?"

The Doctor walked over and eyed her, "Why?"

"Well the little girl said the spaceman was coming to eat her…maybe that's exactly what happened."

"I love you," they heard Amy speak. They looked over to see Rory, who had been sitting down by a few crates, perk up at her words, "I know you think it's him, I know you think it ought to be him, but it's not, it's you. And when I see you again I'm gonna tell you properly just to see your stupid face…" the Doctor walked over, "My life was so boring before you just dropped out of the sky," he paused as Rory hung his head, "Just…get your stupid face where I can see it alright? Ok? Ok."

The Doctor sighed and sat down by Rory, the Professor moving to sit across from them against another crate.

"She'll be safe for now," the Doctor reassured him.

"They wouldn't risk a hostage," the Professor added.

"Can't you save her?" Rory asked them.

"We can track that signal back, take us right to her."

"Then why haven't you?"

"Because then what?" the Doctor shook his head, "We find her and then what do we do?"

"This is far trickier a situation," the Professor had to agree, "Because this  _isn't_  an alien invasion."

"They live here. This is their empire. This is kicking the Romans out of Rome."

"Rome fell," Rory remarked.

"We know," the Professor sighed, "We were there."

"So was I," he looked away.

"Personal question…" the Doctor tested.

"Seriously? You?"

He nodded, "Do you ever remember it? 2,000 years waiting for Amy? The Last Centurion."

"No."

"Are you lying?" the Professor smiled understandingly.

"Course I'm lying."

"Course you are," the Doctor agreed, "That's not the sort of thing anyone forgets."

"I'd still like that spar and duel Rory," the Professor nudged his leg just a bit.

"But I don't remember it  _all_  the time," Rory added, "It's like this door in my head. I can keep it shut."

Amy started to weep, "Please come get me! Come get me…"

~8~

They could hear Amy screaming "No!" as the TARDIS materialized in ship the TARDIS had tracked the Silence to.

The Doctor and Professor hurried out, seeing a number of Silence turn to face them.

"Oh!" the Doctor looked around, it was the ship from Craig's flat, "Interesting. Very Aickman Road. Seen one of these before…" River and Rory stepped out.

"Abandoned," the Professor nodded, recalling the description and image the Doctor had shown her of it after they'd stopped the ship.

"Wonder how that happened."

"Suppose we're about to find out," she shrugged before glancing back at Rory and River, "Rory, River keep one Silent in eye shot at all times."

The Doctor nodded and noticed the Silence staring at them, "Oh! Hello, sorry, were you in the middle of something? Just had to say though," he turned and grabbed a television out of the TARDIS, walking forwards, "Have you seen what's on the telly?" River and the Professor exchanged a look and a nod, readying their weapons, "Oh, hello Amy, are you alright?" he nodded at her, "Want to watch some television?" he set up the telly just in front of her.

"Uh uh," the Professor stepped forward with her blaster aimed at a Silent as it took a step towards the Doctor, River doing the same with her gun on the other side of the main control panel, "Stay where you are."

"You should listen to her," the Doctor spun to face the rest of the Silence, "'Cos look at us," he gestured between him and the Professor, "We're confident. You want to watch that, us when we're confident. Oh, this is my Bonded, the Professor, and our friend River. Both have very nice hair, very clever. Have their own guns too, and…" he glanced around the Silence, feeling the Professor come closer, aiming at the Silent before him while River turned to look at the ones behind, "Unlike me they don't mind shooting people. I shouldn't like that in my Bonded," he glanced at the Professor, "Kinda do a bit."

"Oh far more than a bit," she smirked, backing towards him as she looked over her shoulder at him.

He grinned and turned back to the Silence, "I know you're team players and everything, but the Professor'll definitely kill the first 5 of you…"

"Oh, the first 10 easily," she corrected, her back meeting his.

"10 really?"

"12 for you love."

"Stop it…" he smirked, rubbing his back to her.

"Make me," she teased.

"Yeah well maybe I will…"

"Is this really important flirting?" Amy cut in from where she was strapped to a chair, knowing how distracted they could both get when they tended to flirt despite the fact that an enemy could be aiming a weapon right at their heads at the same time, "'Cos I feel like I should be high on the list right now."

"Yes," the Doctor nodded, stepping back from the Professor just a moment, "Right. Sorry! As I was saying, I'm sure River's a good shot as well, what?" he looked at her, "3?"

"7," she corrected.

"Really?"

"The Professor is a remarkable teacher," River shrugged, turning her attention back to the Silence.

"Huh," he muttered before shaking his head, "Getting back to point, my naughty Bonded and our friend here are going to kill the first handful of you to attack plus him behind. So maybe you want to draw lots or have a quiz…" he started to walk around the console, drawing the Silence attention as Rory dashed over to Amy.

"So what've they got?" Amy asked him.

"Something I hope," he remarked.

"…or maybe you could just listen a minute," the Doctor continued, returning to his spot by the Professor, "'Cos all we really want to do is accept your total surrender and then we'll let you go in peace. Yes, you've been interfering in human history for thousands of years. Yes, people have suffered and died…" he walked up to the first Silent once more, "But what's the point of two hearts if you can't be a bit forgiving now and then," he got no reply, "Oh, the Silence, you guys take that seriously don't you?"

"Ok, he's lying," the Professor added, "We're not  _really_  gonna let you go  _that_  easily."

He nodded, "Nice thought but it's not Christmas. First…" he hit a switch on the telly and turned around, pointing at the Professor.

She turned a bit more towards the Silent before the Doctor, her blaster ready, "You tell us about the girl. Who is she? Why is she important? What's she for?"

Still no reply.

"Guys," the Doctor sighed, "Sorry, but you're way out of time. Now," he clapped, "Come on, a bit of history for you," he turned back to the telly, "Aren't you proud?" and extended the antennas, "'Cos you helped…" he tapped it on to the footage of the moon landing before turning to the Silence again, "Now, do you know how many people are watching this live on the telly?"

"Half a billion," the Professor replied.

"And that's nothing 'cos the human race will spread out among the stars. You just watched them fly, billions, and billions of them, for billions and billions of years."

"And every single one of them, at some point in their lives, will look back…"

"At this man," he tapped the telly, "Taking that very first step and they will never ever forget it," he looked at the screen, "Oh…" he pulled out the comm., "But they'll forget this bit. Ready?"

"Ready," Canton called over the other end.

"It's one small step for man..." the Neil Armstrong began.

And suddenly the picture shifted to the captured Silent, "You should kill us all on sight."

The Professor smirked, "You've given the order for your own execution and the whole planet just heard you."

"One giant leap for mankind," the astronaut finished.

"And one whacking great kick up the backside for the Silence!" the Doctor cheered.

"You just raised an army against yourself," the Professor added.

"And now, for a thousand generations, you're going to be ordering them to destroy you every day. How fast can you run? 'Cos today's the day the human race threw you off of their planet," the Silence turned to the Doctor, backing him up, "They won't even know they're doing it. I think, quite possibly, the word you're looking for right now is…" electricity crackled, "Oops. Run!" and gathered, "Guys I mean us. Run!"

The Silence began to screech, lightning surrounding them as they shot their beams at the small group. The Professor and River wasted no time in firing back at them.

"I can't get her out!" Rory shouted from Amy's chair.

"Go!" Amy struggled, "Just go!"

"We are not leaving without you!"

"Will you just get your stupid face out of here!" Rory looked up at her, stunned, as she looked back, confused.

"Run!" River shouted, "Into the TARDIS! Quickly!"

"Doctor!" the Professor shouted, nodding at Amy and Rory. He ran over and soniced the girl's locks open, releasing her before running back to the Professor and River, sonicing around as Rory helped Amy back to the TARDIS.

"Don't let them build to full power!" he shouted.

"We know!" the Professor yelled, "There is a reason why we're shooting them!"

She, the Doctor, and River hit back-to-back.

"What are you doing?"

"Helping!" he replied.

"You've got a screwdriver," River shouted, "Go build a cabinet!"

"That's really rude!"

"Just shut up and drive!"

He ran to the TARDIS, leaving the two women back-to-back as they fired in rapid succession at the Silence. They turned in a circle simultaneously before dropping into a crouch, killing all the Silence in the room. They looked at each other before smiling, grabbing hands, and helping each other up.

Rory peeked out of the TARDIS as River spun her gun on her finger and put it back in her own holster at her waist.

"The Doctor didn't see that, did he?" River turned to him, "He gets ever so cross."

"So…what kind of doctor are you?" Rory asked her, stepping out slowly.

"Archaeology," she replied as the Professor fired behind them, hitting the last Silent without even looking, "Love a tomb!"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," the Professor shook her head, putting away her blaster as they headed towards the TARDIS, "Always wait for the last man River."

River laughed and they headed to console, helping the Doctor pilot.

"You can let me fly it!" the Doctor shouted as River 'got in his way.'

"Or you could let  _us_  fly and we could go where we're supposed to," River shot back.

"What's the matter with you?" Amy asked as she eyed Rory.

"You called me stupid," he told her slowly.

"I always call you stupid."

"No, uh, my face," Amy looked at him, confused at first, but then down at his hand, opening it to see her recorder and looked at him, "I wasn't sure who you were talking about, you know, me or…" he glanced at the Doctor.

"Him?"

"Well you did say dropped out of the sky."

"It's a figure of speech moron," and then she kissed him.

"Thanks?"

"You're welcome."

The Doctor and Professor couldn't help but smile at them.

~8~

"So we're safe again!" Nixon cheered as he shook the Doctor's hand.

"Safe?" he nearly laughed, "No, of course you're not safe. There's about a billion other things out there just waiting to burn your whole world," Nixon's smile faded, "But! If you want to pretend you're safe just so you can sleep at night, ok, you're safe. But you're not really," he turned to Canton and shook his hand as well, "Canton, till the next one eh?"

"Looking forward to it," Canton smiled.

"You know," the Professor turned to Nixon, "Canton just wants to get married. Not a very good reason to kick him out of the FBI."

"I'm sure something can be arranged," Nixon nodded.

"We're counting on it," she nodded, before hugging Canton and turning with the Doctor to head back to the TARDIS.

"Uh, Doctor, Professor," Nixon called and they turned, "Canton here tells me you're…you're from the future. Hardly seems possible but I was wondering…"

"Should warn you we don't answer much questions," the Doctor told him.

"But I'm a president at the beginning of his time. Dare I ask, will I be remembered?"

"Oh Dicky, Tricky Dicky, they're  _never_  going to forget you," he patted the man on the shoulder.

"Say hi to David Frost for us!" the Professor called as they headed into the TARDIS and disappeared.

~8~

The Doctor and Professor stood before River as she leaned against the bars of her cell in Stormcage.

"You could come with us," the Professor offered. She'd grown to actually like River quite a bit over their adventures, it was nice to have someone else who was handy with a weapon.

"I escape often enough thank you," River declined, "And I have a promise to live up to," she reached out and tugged the girl's jacket a bit, before fixing the Doctor's bow tie, "You'll understand soon enough."

"Ok, up to you," the Doctor shrugged, heading off, "See you next time. Call us!"

"What? That's it?" they turned around and walked back, "What's the matter with you two?"

"Have we forgotten something?" the Professor shook her head.

"Oh shut up," she laughed and pulled the Professor into a tight hug, "Well, come on, let's go…"

"Go where?" the Doctor frowned.

"River Sandwich," she rolled her eyes.

The Doctor looked at the Professor over River's shoulder, confused, and she could only give him an equally confused look back before he hugged River as well, smushing her between the two.

River pulled back with a laugh a moment later but the Doctor just itched the side of his face, a bit awkward, "Right, ok…interesting…"

"What's wrong?" she looked between the two of them, "You're acting like we've never done that before."

"We haven't…" the Professor frowned as well, not really sure what to make of it all.

River blinked, "We haven't?"

"Oh, look at the time, must be off," the Doctor glanced at his watch, "Hm, but it was…nice?" he looked at the Professor.

"Yes," she nodded hesitantly as well, "It was...fine."

"Unexpected."

"Well, there's a first time for everything," the Professor remarked as they turned and slipped into the TARDIS, trying to ignore the whispered…

"And a last time…"

As the door shut behind them.

~8~

"Uh, Rory!" the Professor called as the Doctor piloted the ship away, "We're going to need thermo-couplings, green ones and blue ones."

"Ok," Rory nodded and headed towards the stairs down, "Hold on."

"So…" the Doctor moved around to lean on the console, the Professor on the other side of Amy.

"So?" Amy eyed them.

"You're ok?" the Professor asked.

"Fine. Head's a bit weird. There was lots of stuff I can't quite…remember…"

"Aftereffect of the Silence," the Doctor waved her off, "Natural enough."

"But that's not what we were asking," the Professor crossed her arms, "You told us you were pregnant."

"Yes…" she nodded.

"Why?" the Doctor asked.

"'Cos I was. I mean, I thought I was. Turns out I wasn't."

"No, why did you tell  _us_?" the Professor clarified.

"'Cos you're my friends. You're my best friends," she smiled at them.

"Hmm, did you tell Rory?" the Doctor asked.

Amy looked away, "No."

"Amy, why tell us and not Rory?"

"Why do you think?"

"We don't know," the Professor shrugged.

"I travelled with you two in this TARDIS for so long. All that time…if I  _was_  pregnant for some of it, wouldn't it have had an effect? I don't want to tell Rory that his baby might have three heads or it's got a time head or something…"

"What's a time head?" the Doctor asked.

"I don't know, but what if it had one?"

He laughed a bit, "A time head?"

"Shut up. Alright?" she laughed, "Oi, stupid face!"

"Uh, yeah?" Rory walked guiltily back up the stairs, the recorder blinking in his hand, "Hello."

"I'm taking that away from you if you're gonna listen in all the time."

"Ok, I suppose that's a fair point," he walked up to the floor, "But you should have told me that you thought you were pregnant. I'm a nurse. I'm good with pregnancy."

"Not, as it turns out, that good. Will you stop being stupid?" she hugged him.

"Uh, no! Never!" he swung her around in the hug, making her laugh with delight, "I'm never ever gonna stop being stupid!"

"So!" the Doctor clapped his hands, "This little girl," he grabbed the monitor and swung it around, "It's all about her. Who was she? Or we could just go off and have some adventures. Anyone in the mood for adventures? 'Cos I am. You only live once."

Amy and Rory exchanged a look but Amy smiled back at them and nodded.

The Doctor glanced at her and then turned to the monitor, running a quick scan.

Amelia Pond  
Full body scan in progress...  
Pregnancy:

He frowned, seeing the results flash between positive and negative. He glanced over at the Professor and gave her a small nod. She walked over, frowning as she saw that as well, both turning to look at Amy as she spoke with Rory, in concern.

~8~

The Doctor sighed as he stood before the monitor, looking at the scan flashing back and forth, positive/negative, over and over. He had a vague idea of what was going on. When he'd moved to sonic Amy out of her restraints and also scanned the Silence building their power, the sonic had picked up another little fact...

Amy wasn't real.

Well, she was real, real thoughts and actions and mannerisms, exactly like Amy in every way, but there was a slightly different singal than what a human typically read as. Somehow, someone had taken the real Amy and replaced her with a clone or something. And the worst part was, he didn't know what to do. He had no idea where the real Amy was and even if he did know, he couldn't just block whatever signal was keeping the Amy currently with them alive and walking about. He'd learned as much from Martha's clone that disrupting the signal could kill the clone slowly and painfully...he didn't want any version of Amy to suffer that fate. And then there was the fact of why? Why take Amy? When? What for? Was it a trap for him and the Professor? Taking one of their Companions to lure them out? Or was there a darker purpose? Were they trying to take Amy's baby? Clearly one of the Amys, most likely the one taken, truly was pregnant, hence the positive reading, but the Amy with them was not the pregnant one, which explained the second, negative reading. But why take her child when they could easily capture two Time Lords?

"Doctor…" the Professor called, interrupting his thoughts. He turned around to see her standing behind him, a cup in her hands, "We need to have that talk."

He frowned wanting to know what she wanted to discuss, concerned…but slowly that concern morphed to confusion as, instead of talking, she looked down at her hands. His eyes widened as he saw she was holding a ceramic tea cup full of steaming hot tea…in her bare hands. He ran over, taking the cup from her, wincing at the burning in his fingertips and putting it down before taking her hands in his own and looking at the perfectly fine skin, not even red…not even warm…

"What…" he stared at her hands a moment, stunned, before something dawned on him, "No..." he breathed, looking at her in horror, shaking his head, it couldn't be...but then, she spoke again and he felt his hearts break even as an anger rose in him.

"Something happened to Amy and I in the White House…"

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The show never really said (I don't think) when exactly the Doctor figured out that Amy wasn't real or how, so I thought with all the scanning he was doing as Amy and Rory ran past, the sonic might have picked up something to at least hint at the fact that Amy wasn't real. And I know that the Doctor believed that Amy had been switched out ever since before America but I figured the bathroom provided another time when she could have been switched, just before she started seeing Kovarian and so, you can guess what might have happened...let me just say, the Doctor is NOT happy with the fact that something happened to the Professor as well.
> 
> As for the River Sandwich, well, we'll have to wait till the Wedding (or something else) of River Song to find out what context to take that in :)
> 
> And...you get another treat! I'm putting Bad Night up after this chapter and Good Night up after The Curse of the Black Spot. I felt like those two mini-episodes took place before the discovery of who River Song is to Amy and Rory as Amy mentions River but shows no other interest in her during them, so I don't think she knows then. I also wanted them to come before The Doctor's Wife because there will be a very sweet Doctor/Professor moment at the end of it that I didn't want to follow with one of the mini-episodes.
> 
> Don't forget, virtual cookie to anyone who spots the BBC's Robin Hood reference. Here's a hint, it doesn't take place till after they've found Amy again. Good luck!


	4. Bad Night

"Get the door, get the door!" the Doctor shouted as he and the Professor dashed back to the TARDIS. The Professor picked up the hem of her dress, how she'd let the Doctor convince her to wear a gown as opposed to a pair of dress pants she still didn't know. It was a black halter dress with a silver beaded pattern along the hem and neckline, quite beautiful, but not at all practical. At least she'd managed to hide her blaster from him.

She pushed the door open and the Doctor ran in, a fish in a fishbowl cradled delicately in his hands. He looked up to see Amy on the phone and called out, "I think that's probably for us!" he ran up to the console, trying not to splash any water on his black suit while the Professor joined him, "Hold this!" he shoved the fish to Amy and took the phone from her, "Hello! Ah! Yes, everything's fine! Don't worry," he turned and started to pace.

"Yes because that just screams 'everything's fine,'" the Professor remarked dryly at his action. He really was terrible at hiding his emotions.

He stuck his tongue out at her, "Well exactly," and walked past Amy, forcing the girl to duck under the phone wire, "Why should you be worrying? Who even mentioned worrying?" and again, "She's fine! No, your mum is...your mum is fine," he put the phone to his shoulder and turned to Amy, "Don't answer this phone. Either the Professor or I answer this phone."

"Where have you been?" Amy whispered.

"A party," he replied as the Professor snorted, "Just a party."

She shook her head, "You call THAT a party? Honestly,  _I've_  thrown better parties in school and  _I_  was the rule abider," she shook her head.

The Doctor had to nod at that but recalled the phone by his ear and turned back to it, "Um, yes, your mum is here actually," Amy looked over at the Professor questioningly and she just nodded at the fish, "But she can't come to the phone at the moment. Well, she's…busy. Well you know…the Commonwealth…" he glanced at the fish before leaning over and whispering to it, "It's your son, mum, he wants to talk to you."

"It's a fish Doctor," the Professor reminded him.

He pulled back, "Right. Yes…" he sighed at the fish, "Oh we can't let him see you like this…well, hear you, not that he could hear you, you're a fish!"

The phone rang again and he glanced at the Professor who moved to the monitor to screen the call. She sighed and nodded, so he put it to his ear, "Sorry, we've got another call coming in…"

The Professor typed something into the console and he picked the phone up again, "Hello?" he winced, pulling the phone away from the angry shouting on the other end.

The Professor grabbed it from him, "There is not a bit of use yelling ambassador, you should know  _that_  is by far the  _worst_  way to start negotiations," she paused, listening, "No, I don't care, your warrior chief is trapped in our TARDIS and, until you've turned her majesty back into a human being, he's staying put."

The Doctor grinned and shouted out, "Don't worry. Perfectly safe and…"

The Professor put her hand over his mouth and he looked at her confusedly, before following her gaze to a roll of paper with a dead fly on it, "I'm just putting you on hold for a mo…" the Professor said before hanging the phone up and picking up the paper to look at it. Then to Amy, the only one who had been in the control room before they entered, "What have you done?"

"I thought it was a fly…" she tried to explain.

"So much for the slaughterer of 10 million souls," the Doctor sighed.

The Professor shrugged, "I've still got him beat," and tossed the paper over her shoulder before picking up the phone, "Hello ambassador, it seems your warrior chief has…launched an aggravated assault on our Companion, so sorry, but I won't have that, you'll need a new warrior chief," Amy winced, hearing the shouting on the phone. She felt terrible that the Professor was taking the blame for something she did, but the woman seemed not at all perturbed. In fact, she just rolled her eyes, "Yes, yes, I've impugned your honor, insulted your ancestors, etcetera, etcetera…how about  _this_?" she turned serious, "You  _stop_ shouting at me or I will  _personally_  come to your planet, sans Doctor, TARDIS, and weapons and well…" she let out a bit of a laugh, "We'll just  _see_  how that goes won't we?" she smirked, "Glad you see it my way, now, we shall be returning to the party in a few moments where you will…" she smiled, listening, "Good, pleasure doing business with you," she dropped the phone back into its slot to see Amy staring at her with her mouth open, "What?"

Amy just shook her head, "What is going on?"

She sighed, "We were at a party. There was a slight incident."

"Wait, what, so you two sneak out at night to party? Is that why you're all dressed up?" she eyed them as the Doctor tugged his bow tie, "You never dress up. Especially  _you_ , is that a dress?" Amy eyed the Professor. She'd seen her in a skirt of course, she typically wore one. She'd even seen her in a slightly longer skirt when they'd gone to rescue Isabella, but she'd never seen the woman in an actual floor length dress, not even for her wedding! "Is River at the party?"

The Doctor took off his top hat, "Oh why would she be there?" and walked around the console.

Amy just followed him, "Don't, just don't lie to me Doctor. You're rubbish at it."

"You really are," the Professor had to agree.

"No," he sighed, "We do not sneak out at night to parties with...with...with River Song!" he tossed his hat onto Amy's head.

"Hmm," Amy followed him back around the console, "How is she?"

"Fine."

Amy smiled, "See?"

The Professor laughed, "Rubbish."

They hadn't intended to meet up with River Song, but she'd been there and they'd been there and, of course, things had gotten out of hand and they all found themselves in the middle of an interesting situation.

He rolled his eyes at them, "Sorry, but we ARE in the middle of a thing," he reached out, taking the Professor's hand as she took the bowl from Amy.

"Doctor, Professor wait!" she called after them, making them stop, "Please," they turned around as she walked down the stairs towards them, "I…I need to talk to you…there is a reason why I couldn't sleep…"

The Doctor eyed her a moment, before screaming, "RORY!"

"What are you doing?" Amy hissed, her eyes wide. After dealing with the Silence, she'd found her head even more jumbled than before. She hadn't been able to sleep completely since then, it was really starting to bother her. She just had to talk to them about something, she'd tried talking to the Doctor before he and the Professor had dropped her and Rory off months ago, but then the TARDIS materialized inside itself and she'd forgotten. Now that things had calmed down some she really just wanted to talk about what had been bothering her all those months ago. And now the Doctor was calling for Rory.

"You've got 'the serious face' on," the Professor explained, a bit distracted, as she examined the fish, finally being able to look at it up close, "He always shouts for Rory when you've got 'the serious face.'"

"RORY!" he called again, "She's having an emotion!"

Rory appeared at the top of the stairs, pulling on a robe as he yawned, "What? What's wrong Amy?"

"Why are you calling him?" Amy asked.

"It's his turn," the Doctor turned to leave when the Professor ran over to him, her eyes just a bit wide.

"You two have turns?" Amy turned to Rory threateningly.

"NOOOO!" the Doctor shouted. They turned to see him staring at the fish as the Professor held it up.

The Professor nodded, "We've the wrong fish…"

"I've taken the wrong fish," he breathed, his eyes incredibly wide.

The Professor turned and opened the door, calling out, "River we've got the wrong fish!" she walked out with the bowl, "Yes I know, it's the Doctor's fault…"

The Doctor turned back to them, edging towards the door after her, "Uh, look, sorry you two, I've made a mistake. We've got three hours to save the Commonwealth."

"What happens in three hours?" Rory asked.

He reached out and snatched his hat back off Amy's head, "The pet shops open," before he turned and ran out. He shut the doors behind him and looked out, seeing the Professor and River looking at the fish and just watched them a moment, a frown on his face. He didn't want to be at the party, for all his love of adventures and mystery, there was only one thing he wanted to do.

Find whoever had taken the Professor and Amy and replaced them with clones and tear their world apart.

They had taken the last Time Lady, the last of his people, his Bonded, his wife, his love, his Kata and replaced her! He had no idea where she was, if she was safe, if she was alright, what they were doing to her, and that thought alone was enough to drive him mad with rage. He'd been fuming when he realized what had happened to the Professor, why she hadn't felt the pain of the searing hot cup in her hands, Amy wasn't the only one not real, the Professor was a clone as well, replaced when she and Amy had gone to the toilet. It was certainly a different type of cloning than the one they'd encountered with Martha. During that fiasco, the clone had been kept alive while Martha slept away in a harness, but running on Sontaran command with enough memories from Martha to blend in. These clones, the ones of the Professor and Amy, they were different. Whatever they were, they were literally being controlled by the Professor and Amy's thoughts. It was like they were asleep somewhere but their minds were present in the cloned bodies.

He doubted Amy had any idea she wasn't the real Amy, but the Professor did. Time Lord minds, powerful things they were. She was aware. As soon as she'd mentioned the White House he'd nearly started shouting about them being taken, when she'd covered his mouth. She was aware yes, but she didn't know if their enemies were listening, if they were able to hear what was being said to her, or when they might be listening. Since her mind was present they were still able to communicate telepathically and had agreed to do so when discussing the replacement. She could sometimes hear what was being said around her, outside of wherever she was being held and was trying to see if she could gleam anything about where she was or what type of clones she and Amy were. Without knowing what type of cloning was being used, they wouldn't know what cutting off the connection between the real Amy and Professor and their clones would do to the real versions of them.

He sighed, he'd wanted to go after the ones who had taken her from him, fully prepared, in his fury, to burn whatever lay between him and them in the process. Nothing was more important to him than getting her back, and he wasn't going to let anyone or anything stop him...but she had managed to do it. She'd reminded him that they didn't know where she was, why she and Amy had really been taken, or what sort of enemies and resistance they'd be facing. They needed to be careful, more careful than before, in dealing with this situation. One wrong move, one wrong word and whoever had them might cut the connection before any useful information could be gathered. So he'd agreed, for now, for Amy's sake, they would continue as though everything were fine, there was no point in alarming the girl and they couldn't risk alerting their enemies to the fact that they knew what had happened in the White House. Which was why the Professor had finished with stating that she and Amy had encountered a Silent in the toilet, just to be safe in case their enemies were listening. She hadn't quite expected him to be about to react quite so loudly, his shouting would have definitely alerted them to the fact he was aware.

"Doctor!" the Professor called.

He looked up to see her gesturing him over, an understanding look in her eye. She didn't like it either, but it had to be done.

"Coming!" he replied, jogging over, for now, he had to focus on the matter at hand, finding the right fish...

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I added quite a bit to the end of this scene, I know, but I wanted to explain exactly what happened in the White House and why the Doctor isn't blasting across the Universe trying to track down the Professor in The Curse of the Black Spot. For all her 'jumping into danger' the Professor does still retain her soldier skills, planning ahead, outmaneuvering the enemy, gathering intel, among other things, and, of course, keeping the Doctor 'from doing something stupid' as she said during The Big Bang.


	5. The Curse of the Black Spot

"We're shark bait…" the Doctor heard as they crept around below deck on a ship where the TARDIS had appeared, "Every single one of us. Stuck on the ocean. Waiting."

"Until the wind changes…" another man agreed.

The Doctor stood up, trying to peek through a grating only to bump his head against it, making it bang a few times.

"What's that?" the last man spoke again.

They looked up as a group of men ran to the grating and began to tug at it.

"It's the creature, she's returned!" another man shouted.

The grating was pulled off and the Doctor grinned up, his hand gripping the Professor's arm to keep her from reacting to the gun in his face, "Yo ho ho!" he called, but the pirates just stared at him, "Or does nobody actually say that?"

~8~

The quartet stood in the captain's quarters, the small crew behind them, blocking the door as the captain leaned against a chair, facing them, another man beside him.

"We made no signal," the captain repeated.

"Our sensors picked you up," the Doctor told him.

"Ship in distress," the Professor nodded.

"Sensors?" the man frowned.

"Yes…ok!" the Doctor realized, "Problem word, 17th century," Amy nodded and he turned back to the captain, "Our ship automatically…noticed-ish…that your ship was having some bother."

"That big blue crate?" the Doctor snapped his fingers and pointed at him.

"That is more magic Captain Avery," the man beside him stated, "They're spirits!" he pointed the hat in his hands at them, "How else would they have found their way below decks?"

"Well," the Professor began, "We want to say multidimensional engineering but since you had a problem with sensors, we probably shouldn't go there."

"Look!" the Doctor called, "I'm the Doctor, she's the Professor," he nodded at her, "This is Amy," he pointed across the Professor at Amy, and then crossed his arm to point to Rory beside him, "Rory. We're sailors!" he stepped forward to punch Avery in the shoulder and turned back, "Same as you!" the captain pulled his gun and pointed it at them, "Arrg…" he turned around to see the gun in his face once more, "Except for the gun thing. And the beardy-ness."

"You're stowaways," Avery declared, "Only explanation. Eight days we've been stranded here. Becalmed. You must have stowed away before we sailed."

"So what do we do with them?" the man beside the captain asked.

"Oh I think they deserve our hospitality."

The Doctor smiled but the Professor just put her hand to her face and shook her head at him.

~8~

The Doctor was pushed out onto the plank as the pirates behind him laughed, Amy, Rory, and the Professor being held back by the crewmates…though, to be honest, the Professor was letting herself be held back, there was no doubt in the Doctor's mind that she could have freed herself in no time, but she didn't want to startle the crew or make them do something rash in retaliation.

"I suppose laughing like that is in the job description," the Doctor commented, "Can you do the laugh?" he checked his watch, "Check. Grab yourself a parrot," he put his arms above him, ready to dive, "Welcome aboard," and bounced in place.

"Stocks are low," Avery told him, "Only one barrel of water remains. We don't need four more empty bellies to fill. Take the doxies below!"

Two of the men began to shove Amy and the Professor away.

"Hey!" Rory struggled.

"To the galley, set them to work. They won't need much feeding."

"Rory!" Amy shouted, "Little help!"

"Yeah, hey," Rory called, "Listen right, she's not a doxy…and neither is the Professor!"

"We didn't mean just tell them off," the Professor called as she was shoved down a ladder.

"But thanks anyway," Amy added, forced below as well.

"If you're lucky you'll drown before the sharks can take a bite," Avery remarked to the Doctor.

"If this is just because I'm a captain too, you know," the Doctor quipped, "You shouldn't feel threatened your ship is much bigger than mine. And I don't have the cool boots or a hat even."

"Time to go," Avery pulled out a gun and aimed it at him again.

The Doctor shuffled his feet, "A bit more laughter guys!" and the men started laughing.

~8~

Below deck Amy and the Professor jumped into the water.

"What do we do now?" Amy asked.

The Professor did a quick scan of the room before spotting a chest and running over to it. She opened it, smiling as she saw a number of swords stashed there. She grabbed one, testing the weight, it had been a long time since she got to use one of those...

~8~

"Where are the rest of the crew?" the Doctor turned on the plank, "This is a big ship, big for five yeah? I suppose the rest of them are hiding someplace and," he pinched his nose, "They're all gonna jump out and shout boo."

"Boo!" Amy and the Professor shouted.

The men turned around to see Amy wearing a blue frock coat and triangular hat, standing behind the Professor as she held out a sword at the captain.

"Throw the gun down," the Professor ordered the man. The Doctor ran back down the plank to see what was going on. The captain eyed the Professor a moment, recognizing her stance as that of a person who knew how to handle a sword, and tossed his gun at her feet. She kicked it back behind her and Amy grabbed it.

"The rest of you, on your knees," Amy aimed the gun.

"What are you doing?" the Doctor asked.

"Saving your life," the Professor replied calmly.

"Ok with that are you?" Amy added.

"Put down the sword," Avery glared, though the Professor could see the fear behind it, "A sword could kill us all girl."

She smiled a bit, twisting it to more efficiently point at him, "That's actually why I'm pointing it at  _you_."

A man suddenly lunged forward, attacking, and the Professor defended herself admirably, not even seeming perturbed as she held the man back, him failing to land a single blow against her.

"Oh!" the Doctor jumped, "Hang on!" he jumped off the plank and onto the deck, only for Avery to grab him.

The Professor spun around and slashed down with the sword, breaking the stick the man had attacked with in half. He jumped back and she aimed the sword once more, jerking it at one of the other men who gasped and jumped back. She turned it on another man, watching in interest as he recoiled from her. She knew there was a reason why they'd locked up all the swords, clearly they didn't want to get stuck by it, but why?

The Doctor started grinning, seeing her having the situation under control when another man with a wooden stick attacked, she blocked his blow, kicking him down and back to the group. A black man ran at her swinging a rope in his hand.

The Professor ran towards the back of the boat, jumping and kicking off a barrel to grab a hanging rope, she twisted and swung back down towards the men, slashing the sword and nicking the rope wielder in the hand, landing gracefully on a barrel beside the crew. The Doctor let out a low whistle at her moves and she sent a wink back at him.

The black man dropped the rope in favor of looking at his hand, "You have killed me!"

Amy scoffed, "She nicked you. It's just a cut," the man just looked at his hand, terrified, "What kind of rubbish pirates are you?"

"One drop," Avery cut in, "That's all it takes, one drop of blood and she'll rise out of the ocean."

"Come on," Amy shook her head, "She barely even scratched him. What are you all in such a huff about?"

The Professor, however, frowned and glanced at the man who still looked at his hand. Another man stormed towards her and she grabbed the rope to swing away when two of the crew grabbed her legs and yanked, pulling her down. She dropped the sword for balance and Rory tried to catch it, only cutting his hand instead.

"Ow!" Rory frowned, "Ah…" he blinked, looking at his hand as a black spot appeared on it, "Uh, Doctor, Professor," he held up his hand and pointed "What's…what's happening to me?"

"She can smell the blood on your skin," Avery remarked, "She's marked you for death."

Rory tapped his ear and pointed at him, "She?"

"A demon. Out there in the ocean."

"Ok!" the Doctor grinned, walking over to Rory to check his spot as the Professor was held back by two pirates, "Groovy! So not just pirates today. We've managed to baggsy a ship where there's a demon popping in," he looked at the hand, "Very efficient," he looked up, "I mean, if something's gonna kill you it's nice that it drops you a note to remind you…" he patted Rory's cheek.

Suddenly a soft ethereal singing began and they looked around, startled.

"Quickly now block out the sound!" the black man covered his ears.

"What?" Rory looked at him, confused.

"The creature," Avery backed up towards the crew, away from the side of the ship, "She charms all her victims with that song."

"Oh great, so put my fingers in my ears, that's your plan?" he tapped the Doctor who was looking around for the source, "Doctor come on let's go…" the Professor looked at him, frowning, as she listened to the song, there was something else about it, "Back to the uh…" he staggered, "Oh…back to the uh…" and then started laughing.

"That's the music," the black man grinned.

"It's working on them, look," the man who had been beside the captain remarked.

"You!" Rory turned to Amy, "Are so beautiful!" he fell forward a bit, hanging onto a rope dangling there.

"What?" Amy leaned back.

"Oh, no, I love your getup!" the Doctor and Professor exchanged a look and watched, confused, "No, it's great," he stepped back, "You should dress as a pirate more often. Huh? Hey, hey! Cuddle me shipmate," he moved to hug her.

"Rory stop," she pushed him away.

"Everything!" he put his hands on her shoulders, "Is totally brilliant, isn't it! Huh? Look at these brilliant pirates. Look at their brilliant beards!" he pointed to the pirate next to them before stepping back in thought, "I'd like a beard…" he fell back against the black man, pointing at his chin, "I'm gonna grow a beard."

"You're not."

"Music turns them into fools," Avery remarked to the Doctor and Professor as they watched Rory and the black man laugh hysterically.

"Oh my God…" Amy gasped, staring at something behind the Doctor. They turned around to see a greenish light appear in the water with light drifting up from it. The Doctor and Professor stepped forward curiously as Rory and the black man had their mouths open in awe.

A figure suddenly flew out of the light, a young woman with dark hair and a white dress, glowing a faint green. She drifted down on deck, singing. The black man held out his hand towards her as Amy pulled Rory back. He rushed over, reaching out to her, smiling like a fool, and touched her hand…only to burst into ashes. The crew jerked back, horrified, as Amy and the Doctor looked on in shock, the Professor frowning in thought.

Rory pushed past the Doctor, Amy still hanging onto him before breaking free, "I have to touch her. Let me touch her!"

Amy pushed him away and glared at the woman, "Sorry, but he is spoken for."

The woman turned red and screeched at her, sending Amy flying backwards. The Doctor ran for her as the woman reverted back to green, turning to Rory and singing once more.

The Professor looked between them a moment before stepping forward and opening her mouth, singing a melody of her own. The woman turned to her, trying to sing louder but the melody of the Professor's changed, becoming more forceful, with every start of a rhythm she forced the woman back, her song overpowering the woman's.

Amy scrambled to her feet, seeing the woman distracted and being forced back before grabbing Rory and dragging him away.

The Professor glanced at the Doctor, a strain on her face. He could see the muscles in her throat tightening and knew should wouldn't be able to maintain the power of the song much longer. He turned to the crew, "Everybody into the hold!" the men ran for it as the Doctor ushered Amy and Rory down, before grabbing the Professor's arm and pulling her with him under the ship.

"You alright?" he asked her as they ran.

"Blimey," she breathed, "That really does a number to the vocal cords," even in her voice he could hear the strain and hoarseness setting in, she wouldn't be able to face the woman any time soon. She had bought them time, probably saved Rory's life in the process.

"What was that?" he asked as they tried to get down the ladder.

"There was a secondary layer in her song that resonated causing a delta wave pattern in the marked humans," she explained quickly, "I had to alter my voice slightly to counteract it."

"You are brilliant!" he hopped down the ladder, turning to put his hands on her waist as she hopped down beside him, before spinning her around to face him, wrapping his arms around her, "And the song?"

She gave him a soft smile, placing her hand on his cheek, "What do I ever sing about?"

He started to smile as well, reaching up to hold her hand to his face, "Me?"

"New you, new song," she gave a little laugh, kissing him quickly before taking his hand and pulling him after the crew as they headed further into the ship.

~8~

They gathered in a hold with some water on the ground, boxes scattered all over. The Doctor looked around a moment, trying to get his bearings.

"What is that thing?" Amy asked as Rory tried to get back on deck.

"The legend," Avery explained, "The siren. Many a merchant ship laden with treasure has fallen prey to her. She's been hunting us ever since we were becalmed. Picking off the injured."

"Like a shark," the first mate nodded, "A shark can smell blood."

"Ok," the Doctor nodded, "Just like a shark…in a dress…and singing…and green. A green, singing shark in an evening gown. A gr..."

The Professor put her hand over his mouth to stop his ramblings, kissing the back of it as she smiled at him. He pulled her hand away at the familiar action and kissed the palm of her hand in return.

"The ship is cursed!" Avery exclaimed.

"Yeah, right," the Doctor scoffed, shaking his head as they were pulled out of their moment, "Cursed."

"It's big with humans, isn't it?" the Professor looked at him, before glancing at Avery, "It means bad things are happening but you can't be bothered to find an explanation for it."

"She's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," Rory took Amy's face in his hands as she tried to hold him back.

"Actually, I think you'll find she isn't," Amy hugged him to talk to the Time Lords over his shoulder, "We have to leave, right now."

"If that crate of yours really is a ship…" Avery began.

"Well it's not propelled by the wind," the Doctor remarked.

"Show me!" he pulled out his gun and aimed it at the Doctor once more, "Weigh anchor. Make it sail."

The Doctor turned around to see the gun...in his face...again, "And the gun's back. You're big on the gun thing aren't you?"

"Freud would say you're compensating," the Professor muttered.

"Ever met Freud?"

"Not yet."

"Comfy sofa!"

"Very comfy sofa," the Professor agreed.

The Doctor smirked at her, "You fell asleep on it," he pointed a mock accusing finger at her.

"It wasn't my fault!" she defended, "It  _was_  a very comfy sofa and my pillow was more so!"

" _I_  was your pillow," he reminded her. Freud had left them alone in his office and, in a matter of moments, she'd fallen asleep with her head resting on his chest.

"Exactly," she nodded.

"Oh so I'm a pillow now am I?" he laughed.

"Well would you rather I cuddle an actual pillow or you?"

"Me, naturally."

"So now you're jealous of the pillow?"

"I'd be jealous of anything you cuddle with that isn't me."

She smiled, "Then it's a good thing you're my pillow isn't it?"

He grinned and pulled her closer, "Very..."

"Seriously," Amy cut in, "Is this  _really important_  flirting? There's a  _demon_  after us!" she shook her head, they really had the absolute  _worst_  timing for flirting that she'd ever seen.

"Leave the cursed one captain," the first mate nodded, turning to Avery, "The creature can have him."

"Yes, please," Rory nodded eagerly.

"We don't want the siren coming after us," Avery agreed.

Suddenly another man started screaming. They backed away from him as he stuck out his leg to reveal a small slimy creature on it.

"It's a leech!" Amy gasped.

"Everyone out of the water!" the Professor ordered and they all scrambled out, onto the boxes around them.

"Ah, ah!" Rory looked around, alarmed, as Amy just pulled him with her.

"It's bitten me!" the man pulled the leech off, "I'm bleeding…" and threw it in the water before noticing the spot on his hand.

"She wants blood, why does she want blood?" the Doctor wondered.

"What were you saying about leaving the cursed ones behind?" Amy glared at the man.

"It's ok, we're safe down here," the Doctor cut in, "No curse is getting through three solid inches of timber…" suddenly there was a screech as the siren appeared in the water behind him.

" _Every time_ ," the Professor sighed, shaking her head, every time he said something like that, things went from bad to worse.

He spun around, "Oh! Uh, hello again…" Rory reached out for her but the Professor spun around to push him back as the second man moved towards her. He reached out, trying to grab the other man, but he shoved the Doctor away so that the only thing the Doctor had managed to grab was the man's hat. The man reached out, touching the siren and disintegrated as well. The Doctor turned and pushed them all back out of the room with the Professor, putting the hat on his head to free his hands. He shut the door behind them and locked it.

"Safe?" Amy asked as she held Rory back, the Professor moving to help her restrain him again.

"I have my good days and my bad days," the Doctor pulled the man's hat off his head.

"How did she get in?" Avery asked.

He soniced the hat, scanning it, "Bilge water."

"Then she's using water like a portal?" the Professor reasoned.

"She would be able to materialize through a single drop."

"Then we need to go somewhere with no water."

"Well, thank God we're not in the middle of the ocean," Amy rolled her eyes.

Rory turned to her as the Doctor put the cap back on, "Did you see her eyes? Like crystal pools…"

"You are in enough trouble."

"The magazine," Avery decided.

"What?"

"The armory where the powder's stored," the Professor explained.

"It's dry as a bone," Avery told them.

"Then let's go there."

"Right, onwards," the Doctor stepped forward, only to have Avery's gun in his face.

"I give the orders," he glared.

"Ah…worried 'cos I'm wearing a hat now…" he pulled it off and walked past Amy, leading them away, "Nobody touch anything sharp!"

"Come on Rory!" Amy pulled Rory along by the arm.

They walked out of the room and down a small hall to another door. One of the crew stepped forward with some keys, searching for the right one that would allow them access to the room.

"Quickly man!" Avery called.

"I can't…the key, it's gone captain," the man shook his head.

"How can it have gone?"

The Professor frowned, noticing something about the door, and pushed it open, "Someone else had the same idea."

The Doctor walked in with the Professor and the others, all of them looking around carefully.

"Barricade the door," Avery ordered the man with the keys, "Be careful with that lantern," he told his first mate as he handed over the lantern, "Every barrel is full of powder."

"Who's been sleeping in my gun room?" the Doctor looked around.

He glanced at the Professor who frowned and put a finger to her lips. Everyone quieted down, watching as she walked around the room, a faint coughing sounding from somewhere. She walked over to a barrel and pulled the lid off.

Avery's eyes widened, seeing someone hiding in it, and lifted a young boy out, "You fool!" he shouted, pressing the boy against the wall, "You fool boy! What are you doing here?"

"Who is he?" the key man asked.

"What, he's not one of the crew?" the Doctor looked at him.

"No, he's my son," Avery shook his head.

~8~

Avery and his son, Toby, were sitting side-by-side on a barrel, the crew watching as they spoke.

"What in God's name possessed you boy?" Avery demanded, "Your mother will be searching for you…" Toby looked down, "When?"

"Last winter. Fever. She told me all about you. How you were a captain in the navy. An honorable man she said, how I'd be proud to know you," he coughed, "I've come to join your crew."

"I don't want you here."

"You can't send me back. It's too late. We're a hundred miles from home."

"It's dangerous here. There is a monster aboard. She leaves a mark on men's skin…"

"The black spot?" the Doctor and Professor looked at Toby sharply as he held out his hand to reveal the spot. Avery grabbed it and looked down at it as Toby coughed.

The Doctor and Professor exchanged a look, both knowing what the cough was the result of.

~8~

Everyone was sitting around, Avery leaning by the Doctor and Amy as they sat down, the Professor standing before them. Rory was a few feet away, looking at his hand, seeming far more lucid than before.

"There's nothing wrong with the boy," Avery remarked, "He has no scars."

"Yup, ignore my last theory," the Doctor sighed.

Amy patted him on the stomach, "He has his good days and his bad days."

"It's not just blood," the Professor added, "She's coming for all the sick."

"The wounded," the Doctor nodded, "Like a hunter chooses the weakest animal…"

"Ok, look, he's got a fever," Amy cut in, "The siren knows it."

"Humans…second rate. Damage too easily. It's only a matter of time before everyone gets bruised…" he trailed off, seeing Avery glaring at him, and cleared his throat.

"Our ship it can get us all away from here," the Professor remarked, "The three of us should fetch it."

The Doctor shook his head, "You should stay here with them."

The Professor rolled her eyes, "They're perfectly safe in here so long as no one spits on the floor," she gave the Doctor a look, "Or shall I remind you of what happened when you asked me to stay in the TARDIS when you went into the oval office?"

He winced and nodded, standing up, "Let's go then…"

Avery pulled the gun again, "You're not the captain here. Remember?"

Just then Toby pulled a lid off a barrel of water and the Professor reacted, running over and grabbing the lid, shoving it onto the barrel as an arm shot out of it.

"The water's dangerous!" Avery shouted at Toby, "That's how she gets through. One touch of her hand and you're a dead man."

"What were you saying about it being safe?" the Doctor looked at the Professor.

She sighed, "Fine, they're perfectly safe in here so long as no one spits or opens that barrel."

"We're all cursed if we stay aboard," the first mate remarked.

"It's not a curse!" the Doctor and Professor shouted at once.

"Cursed means we're helpless," the Professor turned to him.

"Cursed means game over," the Doctor agreed.

"We are NOT helpless."

"Captain, what's our next move?" the Doctor turned to Avery.

~8~

Avery put his medallion of a mermaid around Toby's neck for protection before turning to his two remaining crew members, "Wait with the boy."

"Captain we're all in danger here," the first mate stated as the second man unblocked the door.

"I said wait and barricade the door after we've gone."

"You sure you wanna go?" Amy eyed the Doctor and Professor.

"We have to get Rory and Toby away," the Professor nodded.

"She's out there now, licking her lips, boiling the sauce bin, grating the cheese…" the Doctor trailed.

"Ok…" Amy eyed him a moment, "Well, remember if you get an itch don't scratch too hard."

"We've all got to go sometime," the Professor shrugged as Amy and Rory exchanged a look.

The Doctor stepped over to Rory, "There are worse ways than having your face snogged off by a dodgy mermaid," Rory laughed a bit at that as the Doctor patted his shoulders and they turned to go.

The three of them stepped out of the room, Avery putting his gun away as he looked around, "Want to draw lots for who's in charge then?"

The Doctor looked around, "Darkness, demon…you can have first go," he patted the man's stomach.

Avery laughed tensely and looked around as well, reluctant.

"Oh honestly," the Professor shook her head, putting the triangular cap the Doctor had snatched on her head, starting off, "I'm in charge then."

"You can't be in charge you're a wo…" Avery began.

But the Doctor just shook his head frantically, "Trust me…don't. You never want her to pull rank on you. It's not pretty."

Avery eyed him a moment before shaking his head but making no move to tell the girl off. Instead he turned and crept on, only to nearly trip and cut himself on a partially raised nail. The Doctor managed to catch him around the middle and hold his arm up, saving him.

"Nearly…" Avery swallowed hard.

The Doctor patted him on the shoulder and walked off after the Professor.

~8~

The Doctor and Professor ran into the TARDIS, heading straight for the console as Avery looked around, stunned.

"By all the…" Avery breathed.

The Doctor spun around to face him, "Let me stop you there. Bigger on the inside. Don't mind, do you, if we just skip to the end of that moment? Oh, and sorry I lied, by the way, when I said yours was bigger. Kitchen that way," he pointed right, "Choice of bathrooms," he turned around and pointed left, right, and behind him, "There, there, and there."

"Doctor!" the Professor called, already putting in some commands, trying to get the TARDIS into flight.

He ran over to her, typing something in the keypad as the Professor worked some of the other controls.

"What's this do?" Avery asked, pointing to something on the console as he looked around at it.

The Doctor popped up and looked over, "That does very, very complicated…" he dinged a bell, "That does sophisticated," he nodded at a button, "That does whoa! Amazing. And that," he gestured at the rotor, "Does wiz bang far too technical to explain."

"Which means he has no idea what they all do," the Professor called, "Because HE didn't pass his exams."

"And again!" the Doctor muttered, "Bring THAT up."

Avery glanced at her and pointed to a ball with spikes on it, "Wheel?"

"Atom accelerator," she stated.

"It steers the thing?"

"No!" the Doctor shouted, "Sort of. Yes."

He nodded, pointing to random bits, "Wheel. Telescope. Astrolabe. Compass," the Doctor and Professor looked up, slightly impressed. Avery just shrugged, "A ship's a ship."

The Doctor nodded and turned to start pulling random levers, "This is how the professionals do it."

"Then leave it to us yeah?" the Professor called as the TARDIS made a grinding noise and began to settle down, "Now see what you did!"

"Oh, it's stuck…"

"No. She's not responding."

"Becalmed?" Avery asked, amused.

"Yeah, apparently," the Doctor sighed, "That's new…" he looked up as Avery nodded, smug, "You had to gloat didn't you?" he pointed at the man.

"I'm not gloating."

"I saw that look just now. Ha, ha, their ship's rubbish."

"True."

The Doctor tried to come up with a retort but just went back to the controls.

"…can't get a lock on the plane," the Professor frowned as she ran around the console to the monitor as the Doctor moved to try some other controls.

"The what?" Avery frowned.

"Space we travel in," the Doctor tried to explain, "The…ocean! Sort of ocean, but not water. The TARDIS can't see, it's sulking because it thinks the space doesn't exist."

"And without a plane to lock on to we're not going anywhere," the Professor added.

"I'm confused…" Avery shook his head.

"Yeah, well it's a big club," the Doctor remarked, "We should get t-shirts," the TARDIS jolted and the grinding noise began to grow louder. The Doctor and Professor looked around, concerned and confused, "What's happening?" the TARDIS nearly threw them to the side, the grinding noise now echoing loudly, "Well she's had her little sulk," the Doctor shouted over the noise, "Now she's heading for the full on screaming tantrum!"

The Professor struggled to get the controls going.

"Can you fix it?" Avery asked.

The Professor frowned, looking at the readings, "The parametric engines are jammed. Orthogonal vector's gone…"

"Great," the Doctor scoffed, "And I'm almost out of ideas!" he knelt down under a panel.

"Almost?" Avery asked, hopeful.

He popped up, "Well we could try stroking her and singing her a song."

"Would that help?"

"He was being sarcastic," the Professor called as the TARDIS jolted, throwing them back. She shook her head, "We've lost control of her. She's about to dematerialize. We could end up anywhere."

"That sounds bad."

"Yes it is!" the Doctor agreed.

"Out now!" the Professor shouted as the console sparked, "Move!"

"Abandon ship!" the Doctor ran for the door, "Abandon ship!" he threw it open, running out with Avery and the Professor just in time to look back as the TARDIS glowed green and disappeared, "Ok, ok, uh, uh, ok. TARDIS runs off on its own…"

"That's a bit of a new one," the Professor sighed, "And there goes our only hope for getting them out of here."

"Not much of a captain without a ship, are you?" Avery commented to them.

~8~

Avery led them down a small hall towards his quarters to regroup and replan when the man who'd handled the keys popped up before them with a treasure pack and two guns aimed at them.

"Mulligan!" Avery gasped, "What are you doing?" Mulligan just inched forwards, forcing them back at gunpoint, the Doctor grabbing the Professor's arm, "This is mutiny!"

"She doesn't want me," Mulligan made his way past them, "She only wants Toby," until he was behind them, "And the scrawny looking fella," before turning to run.

"He's got the last of the supplies," the Professor commented.

"We should go after him," the Doctor added.

"Never mind the damn supplies what about my treasure!" Avery shouted and they were off, running down the hall after Mulligan. The man spun around, firing at them twice, forcing them to duck down.

"Don't get injured!" the Doctor shouted as they ran around after the man as he dashed off again, "Don't get injured!"

They chased after Mulligan, but he'd locked himself inside the storeroom before they could get there.

"Come out of there you mutinous dog!" Avery pounded on the door.

The Doctor pulled out the sonic and tried it on the lock when they heard the siren singing. He stepped back, automatically looking the Professor over for any injuries as she did the same to him, when they noticed the green glow from under the door.

"She's inside," the Doctor breathed.

"She's come for Mulligan!" Avery realized. A moment later Mulligan screamed and the Doctor jumped up, running back to the lock and sonicing it open. They ran in, the Doctor flashing the room as the Professor looked around.

Avery's gaze immediately fell to the golden crown on the floor which he picked up, "No water in here. How did she take him?" the Doctor looked around as well before turning to the Professor as she frowned, looking around the room for water, "You said she uses water like a door. That's how she enters a room."

The Professor turned to him about to say something when she noticed the crown in his hand and walked over to him, "Oh no…"

The Doctor looked at her and then down to the crown, his eyes widening in realization, "I was wrong," he looked at Avery, "Please ignore all my theories up to this point."

"What again?" Avery frowned.

The Professor snatched the crown and looked at it, "We're in danger. The water's not how she's getting in."

"When we were down in the hull, think what happened," the Doctor nodded, "You, me, the Professor, Amy, Rory. Leeches."

"She sprang from the water," he replied.

"That's only when it grew still," the Professor shook her head.

"Still water," the Doctor explained, "Nature's mirror."

"So…you mean…" Avery slowly caught on.

"It's not water…"

The Professor pointed at the crown, "Reflection."

"The siren legend, the curse…"

"You said curses weren't real!" Avery glared.

"Folk lore springs from truth," the Professor shrugged.

"She attacks ships filled with treasure," the Doctor explained, "Where else would she get a perfect reflection?"

"Polished metal!" Avery gasped, reaching for his neck to check for his medallion, only to remember where it was, "We must warn them!"

They ran out of the room as fast as they could, rushing down the halls, towards the magazine once more.

"Amy!" the Doctor shouted as they drew closer, "Open the door!"

"Toby, open the door!" Avery yelled, "Toby!"

"Open the door!" the Professor called.

"Toby!"

They burst into the room, the Doctor rushing to Toby and grabbing the medallion from him, breathing on it heavily to fog up the metal as Amy and Rory watched, confused. He ended up panting but made a thumbs up to Avery who sighed with relief.

"Reflection!" the Professor gasped, realizing something, and ran out of the room. Avery looked at her, confused, and moved to follow, the Doctor as well, leaving the three humans even more confused.

They followed the Professor into the captain's quarters where she pulled out her blaster and used the butt of it to break the windows. "We've got to destroy every reflection," she told them, "Gold, silver, glass, she could spring from any of them."

The Doctor nodded and picked up a rifle, turning and swinging it into the mirror behind him. He looked back to see the Professor and Avery staring at him, "Yes, yes, I know, I know, very bad luck to break it but look at it this way, there's a stroppy, homicidal mermaid trying to kill all."

The Professor nodded and went back to smashing the windows as Avery considered his words, "How much worse can things get?" Avery sighed.

The Professor stiffened and shook her head, every time,  _every time_ , someone just  _had_  to say that.

"Yup," the Doctor agreed, seeing a box of treasure, "Help me lug this lot out."

"Where are we taking it?" Avery moved to help.

"The ocean."

"No! No! This is the treasure of the mogul of India."

"Oh, good, for a moment there I thought it was yours," he moved to take it again.

"Doctor!" Avery stopped him, "Wait. Must we do this?"

"Any reflection," the Professor walked over to the man, "Any mirror, and the siren  _will_  attack," Avery looked away, "We have to protect Rory and Toby."

The Doctor nodded, "Go get the crown from the storeroom."

Avery sighed but left the room. The Doctor and the Professor grabbed the treasure, lugging it to the window and began throwing it overboard.

~8~

"Just wait?" Rory frowned as they all stood in the magazine that night.

"Not our most dynamic plan I realize…" the Doctor spun to face him, though his glance was pulled to the Professor who was staring past the humans at the wall behind them, looking at something he couldn't see intently, a small frown and glare on her face.

"TARDIS," Amy shook her head.

"It's been towed."

"What?"

"Sorry," the Professor offered, shaking her head and looking away from the wall, "We might be stuck here for a while."

"So you're saying we should all just wait here below?" Rory asked.

"The sea is still calm, like a mirror," Avery stated as the Doctor nodded, "If you go out on deck she'll rise up and attack you."

"It's ok," the Doctor reassured them, walking over to the Professor and putting an arm around her waist, "The calm won't last forever, when the wind picks up we'll all set sail."

"Until it does we have to hide down here."

~8~

The Doctor and Professor stood on deck, staring up at the stars, no matter where they were, how close or how far or how often they did so, they never grew tired of looking at them.

"It's not one star, it's two," the Professor commented as Avery joined them. She pointed up, "The dog star. Sirius. Binary system."

"I use it to navigate the ocean," Avery remarked.

"We've travelled far like you," the Doctor looked at him, "Space can be very lonely. The greatest adventure is having someone share it with you," he took the Professor's hand and she smiled at him.

"If we get out of this, I'll take him back to England. He can't stay with me. I'm not the father he needs."

"Who are you? Henry Avery? Respected naval officer, wife and child at home. How did you end up here? Wandering the oceans with a band of rogues?"

"I've set my course now. Nothing I can do to alter it."

The Professor glanced up at the stars once more, "People stared at it for  _centuries_  and never knew. Things  _can_  suddenly change. When you're least expecting."

The Doctor nodded, moving to wrap his arm around the Professor's waist as they headed back in. He was so thankful that things had changed for him. He never said it, but when Mickey had called him and Rose up with his theory about the aliens taking over a school, he'd almost declined looking into it. He'd just wanted to go on adventures with Rose, he had actually decided they would try to avoid Earth for at least five adventures and was adamant about sticking to it…but…he'd changed his mind, and was so grateful he had…

The Professor, sensing his thoughts stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek, laying her head on his shoulder as they walked into the ship, the Doctor dropping a kiss on top of her head as they walked into the captain's quarters. She took off her hat, tossing it on the table as they stared out the window when Amy walked in.

"Doctor…Professor…" she began.

"Shh…" the Doctor shushed.

"What can you see?"

"Feels like something's out there," the Professor remarked with a frown, "Staring straight at us."

Thunder sounded in the distance and the Doctor shouted, "Man the sails!" and ran out.

~8~

The storm hit them hard, the rain pouring heavily around them. Avery hung off a rope as Amy and Rory ran over to the middle of the ship, "To the rigging you dogs!" he shouted at them, "Let go the sails!" he jumped on deck, "Avanti!" they ran off to the sails on the other side of the deck as Avery and the Professor worked on their own sails, "Put the bunt into the slack of the clews."

"I swear he's making half this stuff up!" Amy shouted as she pulled on a pulley.

"Well we're gonna need some kind of phrase book!" Rory called, nearly falling backwards as the Doctor steered the boat. The Professor had figured he couldn't possible do worse in steering the ship in a storm than a ship  _without_  a pilot in a storm…apparently she had been wrong…

"Toby!" Avery turned to his son as he made his way unsteadily towards him, "Find my coat! My compass is inside it boy!" Toby nodded and moved off to a storage chest in the middle of the ship, "Heave ho you bilge rats!"

"Rats was all I could hear!" Rory told him.

"Pull!" the Professor called over to them.

Toby opened the chest and grabbed the coat to bring it over when the crown fell out of it. They all stopped in horror, watching as it rolled to a stop at the end of the deck. Toby looked at his father when an arm reached out of the crown and suddenly the siren flew out, into the air, singing, before settling down on deck before Toby, holding out her hand.

"Don't let her take you!" Avery shouted, but Toby walked towards her in a daze, "No!" he turned to the Professor, "Do something!"

"I can't sing loud enough with the storm!" she shouted.

"You're useless then!" he glared at her.

She set her jaw and ran over to the boy, trying to pull him back…

But it was too late.

His hand touched the siren just as she reached him and, before everyone's eyes, they both disintegrated.

"NO!" the Doctor shouted, jumping down from the deck and tossing the crown away, before spinning to face Avery, irate, as the man fell to his knees.

"Let go!" Rory struggled in Amy's hold.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" Avery breathed, shaking his head.

"You couldn't give up the gold could you?" the Doctor glared at him, "That's why you turned pirate! Your commission, your wife, your son! My Bonded!" Avery looked away, "Just how much is that treasure worth to you man?"

A sail broke hold and swung around, knocking Rory overboard.

"Rory!" Amy shrieked, running to the side of the boat, "Rory! I can't see him!" the Doctor ran over, "Doctor! I'm going in!" she started pulling off her jacket but the Doctor pulled it back on.

"Drowning!" he shouted, "He's drowning! You go in after him you'll drown too. There's only one thing that can save him now."

"What are you talking about?"

"The siren. The siren, she wants him. We have to release her," he ran back down on deck.

"Doctor no!" she ran after him as he soniced the lid of a barrel of water and lifted it, "No!"

The siren flew up and he shouted up to her, "He's drowning. Go find him!" they watched as the siren flew into the sea.

"What did you do?"

"If he stays in there he'll die!"

"She'll destroy him."

"That thing isn't just a ravenous hunter. It's intelligent. We can reason with it and maybe just maybe they're still alive somewhere…they  _are_  still alive somewhere."

"How do you know?"

"Because the Professor is still alive. I know it," he rested a hand on his hearts as they raced madly in his chest. He knew she was still alive, but he didn't know if what he was feeling was the real her or the cloned her, he could only pray that it was both, "She has to be. So we have to follow."

"Are you mad?" Avery demanded.

"If we ever want to see them again we have to let the siren take us," he pulled out a nail from his jacket, "We'll prick our fingers. All agreed?"

Avery hesitated a moment before nodding, "Aye."

"Aye," Amy agreed.

"Aye!" the Doctor pricked their hands and the siren appeared before them. They held out their hands to her and disappeared in a white light.

~8~

The Doctor groaned as he woke up to find himself, Amy, and Avery lying on the floor of a disused spaceship.

"Where are we?" Amy rolled onto her back.

"We haven't moved," the Doctor pushed himself up, "We're in exactly the same place as before," he stood up and looked through a window before them to see the deck during the storm.

"We're on a ghost ship," Avery breathed.

"No, it's real. Spaceship trapped in a temporal rift."

"How can two ships be in the same place?" Amy shook her head, pushing herself up as well.

"Not the same. Two planes, two worlds. Two cars parked in the same space. There are lots of different Universes nested inside each other. Now and again they collide and you can step from one to the other."

"Ok…I think I understand…"

"Good 'cos it's not like that at all, but if that helps…"

"Thanks."

"All the reflections have suddenly become gateways…" he picked up a piece of metal and threw it at the window. It flew through it and landed on the deck, "Ever look in a mirror and feel like you're seeing a whole other world? Well, this time it's not an illusion."

There was a beep behind them and they turned around, following it.

"The signal."

"Yes."

"The distress call."

"Uh huh."

"There was a second ship here all this time."

The Doctor paused, hearing singing in the distance, "And the siren is on board…" he hit a button and the door before them opened to reveal a dead alien in a spacesuit. They jumped back and then looked closer. It was a skeletal remain, looking like a decomposed rat/beaver head with a fin sticking out of it, "Dead."

He walked past the alien and into the next room, the main control room, to see another similar alien in a seat, dead as well, but this time with the window facing the captain's quarters. He moved to the alien, crouching down to examine it as Amy looked out with Avery.

"The Professor was right," Amy remarked, "There was something staring at us the whole time. How long has this ship been marooned here?"

"Long enough for the captain to have run out of grog," Avery replied.

"I don't understand, if  _this_  is the captain then what's the siren?"

The Doctor pulled out the sonic and scanned the alien, "Same as us. A stowaway."

"She killed it."

"Human bacteria," he shook his head, reading the results.

"What?"

"A virus. From our planet. Airborne. Travelling through the portal," he put the sonic in his pocket, "That's what killed it, didn't get it's jobbbssss…" he had leaned over and put his hand in the slime on the console, pulling back to look at it, disgusted, "Look!"

"What is it?"

"Sneeze! Alien boogies!" he flicked his hand to get the slime off but just ended up wiping the rest of it off on Amy's jacket as he walked past.

~8~

The Doctor whipped out the sonic and scanned a very white room as they walked in. There were dozens of people lying on tables suspended from the ceiling, the men with their shirts, shoes, and socks off, lying there with tubes around their throats and straps around their abdomens.

"Legraw!" Avery pointed to one of them, "He's one of my men."

"He's still breathing," Amy remarked.

Avery looked around, "My entire crew…" the Doctor picked up a block from a small panel and looked at it, "In here. Toby!" he spotted his son and ran to him on the right of the room.

"Rory!" Amy gasped, rushing to him in the middle.

"Professor!" the Doctor ran to the left side of the room, stroking the woman's hair and putting a kiss to her forehead. She was the only patient with her shirt on, though her jean jacket was removed.

"We have to get him out of here," Avery called.

The Doctor swallowed hard, squeezing the Professor's hand before running over to check on the others, "Wait!" he quickly scanned Toby, "He's fever's gone…" and then moved over to scan Rory.

"He looks so well," Amy remarked.

"She's keeping him alive," the Doctor read the scan, "His brain is still active but all its cellular activity is suspended. It's not a curse…" he pulled out one of the little blocks to see a yellow skin sample on it, "It's a tissue sample. Why get samples of people you're about to kill?"

"Help me get him up?"

They moved to try and release Rory when a beep sounded and they could hear the siren singing. They looked up, startled, "She's coming," the Doctor breathed.

They ran back behind a white panel just over by the Professor, watching as the siren entered the room and walked over to the now awake Rory. He struggled a bit but the woman just placed her hand over his chest and sang him back to sleep.

"Anesthetic," the Doctor murmured, immensely relieved.

"What?" Avery frowned.

"The music, the song," he shook his head, "The Professor said the siren was implementing a delta wave pattern in the song to soothe the people she'd marked. She anesthetizes people and puts their bodies in stasis," they watched as she moved over to Toby, doing the same, when Avery stepped forward, his gun out, "Avery…no!"

Avery fired and the siren turned red and angry, hissing and screeching as she stormed towards him.

The Doctor ran out from behind the panel and sneezed loudly. The siren turned on him, creating fire between her hands and stalking towards him. His eyes widened, not expecting that, "Fire…that's new. Uh…" he ran a hand through his hair, "What does fire do?" he backed away, "Burn, yes. Destroy, what else? Uh, sterilize!" he started to stutter as he pulled out a hanky, "I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I sneezed! I'm all germy!" he blew his nose in it and threw it on the floor where the siren immediately directed her fire and burned it to ashes. He nearly breathed out in relief, when he spotted Amy at Rory's side, trying to free him, "Amy stop! Don't interfere! Don't touch him!" the siren noticed as well and began to stalk towards Amy as he tried to figure out what was going on, "Anesthetic, tissue sample, screens, sterile working conditions…uh, ignore all my previous theories!"

"Yeah, well, we stopped paying attention a while back!" Amy shouted as the siren arrived.

"She's not a killer at all, she's a doctor!" he shouted. Amy stepped back, shocked, and looked at the siren as she turned green once more. The Doctor looked around, impressed, "This is an automated sick-bay. It's teleporting everyone on board…the crew are dead and so the sick bay's had nothing to do…" he walked over, "It's been looking after humanity whilst it's been idle. Look at her. A virtual doctor able to sterilize a whole room."

"Able to burn your face off."

"She's just an interface seeped through the join between the planes, broadcast in our world. Protein circuitry means she can change her form and become a human doctor for humans. Oh, sister, you are good!"

Amy moved to take Rory's collar off and the siren hissed at her, turning red. As soon as Amy stepped back, she returned to her normal green.

"She won't let us take them," Avery walked over to Toby's side.

"She's keeping them alive but she doesn't know how to heal them," the Doctor nodded, glancing at the Professor, twisting his ring on his finger.

"I'm his wife for God's sake, why can't I touch him?" Amy demanded.

He paused, looking down at his ring and then to Amy, "Tell her Amy," he stepped over and Amy looked at him, confused, "Show her your ring," he reached for Amy's hand, "She may be virtual but she's intelligent. You can't do anything without her consent," he held up hers and Rory's hands, showing the siren the rings, "Come on, sophisticated girl like you, that must be somewhere in your core program."

The siren glanced from Amy's hand to Rory's.

"Look, he's very ill, ok?" Amy turned to her, "I just want to look after him," the siren looked at her, "Why won't you let me near my husband?"

The siren tilted her head and held out her hand, a golden ring appearing around it.

"Consent form," the Doctor whispered to her, "Sign it, put your hand in the light. Rory's sick you have to take full responsibility."

Amy put her hand on the light for a moment and the siren turned and walked over to the Professor, recognizing a ring on her finger and waiting for recognition of her spouse as well.

Amy ran around the other side of Rory and hit a button before the Doctor could walk over. Rory jerked up, gasping for air.

"He can't breathe!" the Doctor shouted, "Turn it back on!"

She hit the button and Rory fell back asleep, "What do we do? I can't just leave him here."

"He'll die if you take him out," Avery sighed.

Amy put her hand on Rory's hair, stroking it as she whispered, "Rory, Rory wake up."

Rory blinked a bit, stirring, "Where am I?"

"You're in a hospital," the Doctor told him, "If you leave you might die."

Amy glanced at the Doctor before turning to Rory, "But if you don't you'll have to stay forever."

"You're saying that if I don't get up now…" Rory began.

"You can never leave."

"The siren will keep you safe," the Doctor added.

"And if I come with you…" Rory frowned.

"Drowning on the point of death."

Rory paused, thinking a moment, "I'm a nurse…"

"What?" Amy frowned.

The Doctor glanced over at the siren, who was staring at him patiently beside the Professor, and walked over, just knowing they would need her soon.

"I can teach you how to save me."

"Wait, hold on…" Amy shook her head, glancing up to see the Doctor put his hand on the golden circle around the siren's hand.

"I was drowning, you just have to resuscitate me."

"Just…"

"You've seen them do it loads of times in films. CPR, the kiss of life."

"Rory this isn't a film ok," she cried, in tears, "What if I do it wrong?"

"You won't."

"Ok, what if you don't come back to life? What if…"

"I trust you," Rory told her softly.

"What about them?" she glanced up at the Doctor who was helping the Professor sit up, pulling the tube off from around her throat, the girl's jacket and shoes beside her on the table, "Hmm? I mean, why do  _I_  have to be the one? Why do I have to save you?"

"'Cos I know you'll never give up," Rory told her. Amy took a breath and nodded, listening intently to Rory's instructions.

The Doctor squeezed the Professor's hand as she moved to put on her effects and headed over to check on Avery, "We have to send the ship back into space," he told the man, "Can you imagine if the siren got ashore? She would have to process every injured human."

"What about Toby?" Avery asked.

He shook his head, "I'm sorry. It's Typhoid Fever. Once he returns it's only a matter of time…"

"What if I stay with him? Here? The siren will look after him," the Doctor considered it, "I can't go back to England. What home does he have now if not with me?"

He nodded, proud of the man who was finally stepping up, "You think you can sail this thing?"

"Just point me to the atom accelerator."

The Doctor laughed and patted the man's shoulder, turning to walk back to Amy and Rory, the Professor standing by Amy, her arm around the girl's shoulder as she tried to stay strong.

"I know you can do this," Rory told her, "Of course if you muck it up I'm going to be very cross…and dead."

Amy laughed a bit at his attempt to soothe her, "I'll see you in a minute."

Rory nodded and prepared himself. Amy, the Doctor, and the Professor nodded. Amy and the Doctor began ripping the pads and tubes off him as the Professor helped shift him to sitting as he gasped for breath. The Doctor and Professor put Rory between them, carrying him to the TARDIS as Amy opened the doors. They gently placed him on the floor and Amy knelt beside him.

She took a breath and did five compressions, giving him a breath, the Doctor nodding encouragingly as Rory failed to breathe. She gave him five more and a breath, the Professor rubbing her back as there was no change.

"Come on, come on Rory!" the Doctor chewed his thumb, "Not here, not this way, not today!"

Five more compression and one more breath, but still nothing.

"He trusted me," Amy shook her head, "He trusted me to save him!"

"You still can," the Professor told her, wanting more than anything to help, but Amy had taken responsibility for Rory as the Doctor had for her, they couldn't interfere, "You can still do this. He believes in you. Come on Amy!"

Amy nodded and did five more compressions, one more breath…nothing.

"No!" she cried, five more, one breath…no change, "Please, please, please, please, please, wake up! Please, please," she started five more compressions, pleading with him to wake up.

The Doctor looked away as Amy breathed for Rory, the girl starting to cry as he rocked back on his heels. Amy pushed herself up and looked down but Rory didn't move. She hunched over, sobbing into the Professor's shoulder as she hugged the girl tightly when…

Rory started choking on water and coughing. He rolled onto his side, sputtering, as Amy and the Time Lords looked on, stunned and relieved. Rory gasped for air and the Doctor pushed himself to his feet in delight, walking off, exuberant, Rory was alright!

Amy quickly moved to his side, checking on him, as the Professor moved back.

"Amy…" Rory breathed as she smiled at him, "Amy you did it! You did it!" he hugged her tightly as she buried her face in his shoulder, crying.

The Professor got up and walking over to the Doctor, the two of them hugging as well.

~8~

"I thought the Professor was an excellent pirate," Amy commented as she and Rory walked up the stairs towards the hallways, Rory now in a blue robe.

"She was alright," Rory teased, "But I thought  _you_  were an excellent nurse."

"Easy tiger," Amy laughed before turning to look at the Doctor and Professor as they stood by the console, looking at the monitor, "Good night Doctor, night Professor."

"Night Amy," the Professor smiled.

"Good night Amelia," the Doctor added.

She frowned, "You only call me Amelia when you're worrying about me."

"We always worry about you," the Professor winked.

Amy nodded, "Mutual."

"Go to bed Pond!" the Doctor called, watching as Rory said something quietly to Amy before they headed off.

The Doctor and Professor stood at the scanner, looking at the pregnancy scan running again, still saying positive/negative.

"Oh Amelia…" the Doctor sighed, before turning to the Professor, ' _How is she?_ ' he eyed her, ' _How are you?_ '

She sighed, ' _We're alright. For now. But Doctor…_ ' she shook her head, ' _We need to find out how to stop it, soon._ '

He nodded, pulling her into his arms and holding her tightly. They had only been running the scan as more of a timing thing than anything, making sure the real Amy was still pregnant and the baby hadn't been born yet. From what the Professor had gleamed off of Amy when she'd hugged the girl in the diner, Amy had been nearly three months pregnant at the time, barely showing, only seeming to have put on a few pounds. But then, there had been the three months of learning about the Silence, and they'd already been whizzing about time and space for a little more than a month now...their time was running out, they barely had another two months before they needed to act or risk Amy's child getting caught in the crossfire and the only useful information the Professor had managed to gleam so far were whispers that the Headless Monks were somehow involved.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song that I imagine the Professor sings against the siren is 'I Am The Doctor (Extended Version)' from about 3 minutes to about 3.40 (I'm not sure if it's the right part compared to the actual CD soundtrack, but if you look it up on youtube it's the right section).
> 
> I'm going to post the answer to the Robin Hood reference in the next chapter, Good Night, so the virtual cookies are still up for grabs for those of you who spot it in Day of the Moon :)


	6. Good Night

The Doctor walked down the stairs, his euphonium tucked under his arm, the Professor following with a small flute. She smiled to herself as she hopped down the last step, she was in pants again. It had most certainly been a one time thing letting the Doctor convince her to wear that beaded dress, it gave her far more trouble than it was worth. She couldn't count the number of times she'd tripped on it and nearly fallen or stumbled into someone, though the Doctor had had a grand old time catching her. It had made her suspicious, how often he seemed to be right there when she tripped and how quickly he'd grab her, she was almost certain he'd purposefully gotten her into such a dress so he'd have an excuse to pull her into his arms throughout the night. Not that she was complaining about _that_. But she couldn't help but smile, a simple pair of black dress pants and a white blouse was all she needed for their last adventure. The Doctor on the other hand was decked out in a black suit with a white jacket. He tossed her the euphonium before heading to the door, letting her put them away, knowing how she got about the instruments and order.

"River!" he called out as he opened the door, this time they hadn't run into River, she'd sent them a message via Marilyn Monroe requesting their help and they'd shown up. As it turned out, this was an earlier point in Marilyn's timeline and she hadn't met him or the Professor yet, so he was grateful that the Professor couldn't kill the woman for trying to marry him as she hadn't tried it yet, not that the Professor hadn't tried to sneak her blaster out, but River seemed to know about the whole near-marriage incident and had been able to help him keep Marilyn away from the Professor, alive and safe, long enough for them to save the day and for him to get the Professor back to the TARDIS.

He shook his head from his thoughts, "We'll see you later! Tell Marilyn she's too late, she'll have to use the biplane. Take care!" he turned and walked back to the console where the Professor had set the instruments on the jump seat to wait till they were in the Vortex.

"Do you do this every night?"

The Doctor jumped, hearing Amy suddenly speak, and looked over to see her sitting on the stairs to the halls in her nightgown and robe, "Oh! Hello," he quickly moved to stand before the jump seat, blocking her view of the instruments sitting there.

"Still oblivious," the Professor remarked fondly with a smirk. He rolled his eyes, trust her to notice Amy sitting there but not say anything about it.

"You're trying to conceal…" Amy began, trying to glance behind the Doctor.

"Euphonium," the Professor called.

"Euphonium," Amy repeated, "Guiltily. Has that ever been attempted before?"

"And accomplished apparently," the Professor remarked, walking around the console.

"What, oh this," he nodded back at it, "Oh yeah, it's just one of those um…euphoniums."

"Ok…so is THIS what you two do at night when we're sleeping?" Amy asked, "Have extra adventures?"

"We don't sleep as much as you," the Professor explained, "We like to keep busy."

The Doctor laughed, "You do not want to see her bored, trust me," he smirked at the Professor, "Last time she was bored she knit me this ridiculously long scarf…"

"Oi!" she laughed as well, "You loved that scarf and you know it."

"Keep busy doing what?" Amy called, seeing them about to get lost in memory, "Actually tell me for once. You're my friends, my best friends, so tell me what it is you do."

The Doctor looked at the Professor who nodded, "…ok," he sighed, "We just helped out a possessed orchestra at a moon base…"

"Before that we prevented two supernovas," the Professor added.

"Wrote a history of the Universe all in jokes."

"His idea, and did a bit of local work in Brixton."

He nodded, "Lovely practice, very short staffed."

Amy stared at them and the Professor frowned, "What's wrong?"

Amy just got up sadly, "We're such tiny parts of your lives aren't we?" she walked down the steps and over to them, "All the friends you make just flicker in and out. You must hardly notice us."

"Amy," the Professor shook her had, "You are  _enormous_  parts of our lives."

"And you are  _all_  we ever remember," the Doctor agreed.

"Speaking of which…" Amy hesitated a moment, finally seeing an opportunity to speak to them about what had been bothering her, "My life doesn't make any sense."

"We know," the Professor reached out and put a hand on her shoulder.

"That's what I've been trying to talk to you about."

She'd been trying to sleep again, and she'd gotten better at staying asleep recently, but...having nearly lost Rory only a few adventures ago, it had made her think about something else she'd lost and gotten back.

"We know," the Doctor said quietly.

"Like…when I first met you I didn't have parents. I  _never_  had parents. And then you did…whatever it was you two did…and rebooted the Universe and, suddenly, I have parents. And I've  _always_  had parents. And I remember both lives in my head, both of them, in my head, and at the same time."

"That's fine isn't it?"

"But it shouldn't be. Why is it fine?"

"Rory was a Roman for 1,894 years," the Professor pointed out.

"He says he hardly remembers it."

"But sometimes you'll catch him just staring," she trailed off, thinking of the times when she'd get the same look, seeing it in the Doctor's mind as he realized she was remembering her time in training or the war before he'd snap her out of it.

"There are things Amy," the Doctor tried to explain, "Everyone's memory is a mess."

"Life in itself is a mess," she agreed.

"Everyone's got memories of a holiday they've couldn't have been on..."

"A party they never went to..."

"Or met someone for the first time and felt like they've known them all their lives," he smiled softly at the Professor, it had been an instant connection between the two of them the moment she spilled juice down his front and he'd taken her to the healers. Ever since that moment, they'd been inseparable.

"Time is being rewritten all around us everyday."

"People think their memories are bad…"

"But their memories are fine."

He nodded, "The past is  _really_  like that."

Amy looked between the two of them, barely even noticing their shifts in narrative, having gotten so used to it by now. She shook her head, "…that's ridiculous."

"Yeah, now you're starting to get it!" he clapped his hands and walked past her.

"Put your hand here," the Professor called, moving to help him put in some commands.

"What is it?" Amy asked.

"TARDIS telepathic circuits," the Doctor explained.

Amy put her hand on the control the Professor had pointed to, "What do I do?"

"Nothing. Just relax," he dashed around her, pushing buttons while the Professor did the same on the other side of the console, "Your saddest ever memory was…" he brought the monitor around to the Professor, "At a fairground in 1994. Can you remember why?"

"No," Amy answered quickly, before frowning, "Hang on did I…" she looked at them as they moved to her side, "Did I drop an ice cream? That can't be my saddest memory."

The Doctor's expression saddened, "Remembering ice cream is always sad."

The TARDIS stopped with a slight thump and the Professor looked up with a smile, "We're here."

"Where's here?" Amy frowned, "Did we just land?"

"What happened after you dropped the ice cream?" she turned to Amy.

"Nothing, I cried," they gave her a pointed look, "No, no…" she looked down in thought, "Hang on, there was a lady...and she bought me another one..."

"Oh, good for her," the Doctor grinned, "What did she look like?"

"She looked like she…" she smiled, her gaze drifting to the console as she remembered it, "She had a funny dress, a nightdress, she had red hair," she laughed, shaking her head, "But what…" she turned to see them by the doors, "I don't understand. Why are you doing this?" she walked down the steps, "What is the point?"

"The nice lady, what did she say to you?"

"Cheer up, have an ice cream."

"Amy, time and space is never ever going to make any kind of sense," the Professor told her, well, at least to a human it wouldn't, "A long time ago you got the best possible advice on how to deal with that."

"So!" the Doctor threw open the doors, "I suggest you go and give it!"

Amy walked closer, hearing the sounds of a fairground just outside, "Ok, ok, so I ask you a big important question about life and you're basically telling me to go and buy myself an ice cream."

"No Amy," he put his arm around her shoulder, "I'm telling you to go and buy  _us_  ice creams."

"Basically," the Professor leaned over to whisper to Amy, "Yes, yes he is."

"I love fairgrounds," the Doctor commented, not at all perturbed by them at the thought of ice cream.

"I hate you," Amy remarked.

The Professor grinned, "No, you don't," she laughed.

"Do you get scared on ghost trains?" the Doctor asked as the three of them headed out, "I get a bit scared so I tend to hold the Professor's hand…maybe we should go wake Rory…"

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm very excited for the next chapter, I LOVED writing The Doctor's Wife episode. There's going to be a very sweet scene between the Doctor and Professor that discusses another reason why the Professor turned down the Doctor's need for some 'help' when he went to have a shower in Day of the Moon. There will also be something in that chapter that ties up a loose end from Reunion (I don't want to give away too much on which loose end it is, it'll definitely be a shocking surprise for the Time Lords), a flashback, and a scene that will actually shock the Doctor mute for quite a while :)
> 
> As for the BBC's Robin Hood reference, it was when the Professor told River to "Always wait for the last man" after she'd shot the last Silent as Robin reminds Much in the first episode that, even after five years of battle, he "still forgets the last man" after they've escaped the men they'd saved Alan-a-Dale from :)
> 
> I feel like I'm on a BBC spree right now lol, because next chapter the Professor will have a short line inspired by Irene Adler of BBC's Sherlock, virtual Jammie Dodger to those who spot it :) 
> 
> Just a note about the women from the embedded images portraying the Professor and who they are, the person who I picture as being close to the 9th Professor is Alexa Davalos, but with gray eyes and lighter hair. The 10th Professor is similar to Victoria Pratt, with blue eyes. And the 11th Professor is kinda of like Isla Fisher, with hazel eyes and just a bit lighter hair :)


	7. The Time Lords' Mother

The Doctor walked around the console as the Professor lay under it, working on checking some of the wires, Rory sitting in the jump seat, listening as the Doctor gobbed on about some adventure or another.

"…and then we discovered it wasn't the robot king at all, it was the real one. Fortunately the Professor was able to reattach the head," he laughed.

"Do you believe any of this stuff?" Rory looked at Amy as she walked down the stairs from the halls to join them.

"I was there," she remarked.

The Doctor ran over to the console as a small, beeping alarm went off, "Oh! It's the warning lights! I'm getting rid of those," he tapped the console, "They never stop!" he kicked it.

"They work just fine!" the Professor called up to him, "And you would know that if you'd kept the manual!" she watched as Rory headed over to Amy as she moved to head back up the stairs, the two of them talking quietly a moment when a knocking cut off her thoughts.

Knock knock-knock knock knock, sounded from the doors of the TARDIS.

The Doctor spun around and looked at the doors curiously as the Professor sat up and stared.

"What was that?" Amy asked as she and Rory walked back over to them.

"The door," the Professor said, getting up, watching as the Doctor slowly walked towards it, "It knocked."

"Right…" Rory nodded, "We are in deep space…"

"Very, very deep," the Doctor agreed before repeating the knock sequence on the door, only for a knock-knock to appear at the end, "And somebody's knocking…" he threw open the doors to see a cube of light floating there. The Professor's mouth dropped open and she stepped towards the steps, looking, "Oh come here. Come here you scrumptious little beauty!" he held out his hand and it flew past him, into the TARDIS. Amy and Rory ducked down as it zoomed over them, only to crash into the Doctor, hitting him in the chest and knocking him down, before falling beside him.

"A box?" Rory frowned.

"Doctor what is it?" Amy asked.

The Doctor popped up, holding the box in two hands, breathless, as he turned to the Professor, "I've got mail!" she couldn't help but grin excitedly.

~8~

The Professor and the Doctor were setting the controls, practically dancing around the console while the Doctor clasped the box in his hand.

"Time Lord emergency messaging system," the Professor explained.

"In an emergency we wrap up our thoughts in psychic containers," the Doctor held up the box.

"Send them through time and space."

"Anyway! There's a _living_  Time Lord still out there. And it's one of the good ones!"

"Which is really quite a relief," the Professor added as the Doctor bent down to type something into the controls, "We really  _don't_  need another Master making an appearance," she sighed and looked at the humans, "He killed me. Twice."

"You said there weren't any other Time Lords left," Rory frowned, recalling the tale of the war that the two had told him after he'd first come to travel with them.

"There are no Time Lords left anywhere in the Universe," the Doctor popped up, tossing the box to the Professor.

"But the Universe isn't where we're going," she nodded.

"See that snake," he gestured to the box as the Professor held it up for them to see a snake eating itself, "The mark of the Corsair, fantastic bloke."

"He had that snake as a tattoo in every regeneration, didn't feel like himself unless he had the tattoo."

"Or herself a couple of times," the Doctor spun around the console, "Oh ho! She was a BAD girl," he turned to the Professor, pulling her into a quick kiss, "Nothing on you though dear," he grinned and reached over to pull a lever and the TARDIS jolted.

"Whoa!" Rory grabbed onto the sparking console, "What is happening?"

"We're leaving the Universe," the Professor called.

"How can you leave the Universe?" Amy asked.

"With enormous difficulty!"

"Right now we're burning up TARDIS rooms to give us some wally!" the Doctor hit a button and the Professor twisted knobs, "Goodbye swimming pool. Goodbye scullery! Sayonara squash court seven…"

The Professor pulled another lever and the console sparked again. Amy and Rory shouted as they flew through the Universe, watching on the monitor as they hurtled towards a glowing, green planet. They landed with a jolt, nearly falling to the floor.

"Ok," Amy pushed her hair from her face, "Ok, where are we?"

"Outside the Universe," the Professor smiled.

"Where we've never ever been," the Doctor grinned, but then the TARDIS started to dim.

"Is that meant to be happening?" Rory frowned.

The Doctor and Professor ran around, pushing buttons and levers but nothing was working.

"The power," the Professor shook her head, "It's draining…everything's draining..."

The Doctor looked up, startled, "But it can't! That's…that's impossible…"

And then the room darkened completely.

"What is that?" Rory asked.

"It's as if the matrix, the soul of the TARDIS, has just vanished," he looked around slowly, "Where would it go?" he and the Professor exchanged a look, before rushing to the door and slowly heading out onto the planet. Amy and Rory stepped out after them to see they were standing in a rather large junkyard.

"So what kind of trouble's your friend in?" Amy asked them.

"He was in a bind, a bit of a pickle, sort of distressed," the Doctor mumbled, looking around.

"Aw, you can just say you don't know."

The Professor scoffed, "Him? Admit that? Ha! There's a better chance of him accidently blowing up the west wall of Buckingham Palace with a corncob pipe and a bit of soap!"

"That only happened once!" he moaned.

"What is this place?" Rory grimaced a bit, "The scrap yard at the end of the Universe?"

"Not end of, outside of," the Doctor corrected.

"How can we be outside the Universe? The Universe is…everything."

"Imagine a great bit soap bubble with one of those tiny little bubbles on the outside."

"Ok…"

"But it's nothing like that," the Professor told him.

The Doctor walked over to the TARDIS, frowning, "Completely drained! Look at her!"

"Wait so, we're in a tiny bubble Universe sticking to the side of the bigger bubble Universe?" Amy tried to follow.

"Yeah…"

"No," the Professor shook her head.

"…but if it helps, yes."

"This place is full of rift energy," the Professor looked around, "She'll probably refuel just by being here."

The Doctor turned around and scooped up a pebble, "Now this place, what do we think eh?" he tossed the pebble away.

"Gravity's almost Earth normal," the Professor commented, watching it fall.

"Air's breathable…" he hopped into a tub that was just sitting there.

The Professor grimaced, scrunching her nose, "But it smells like…"

"Armpits," Amy supplied.

"Armpits!" the Doctor pointed at her.

"What about all this stuff?" Rory looked around, poking a makeshift lantern, "Where did this come from?"

"Oh there's a rift, now and then stuff gets sucked through it," he snapped his fingers, hopping out of the tub, "Not a bubble! A plug hole. The Universe has a plug hole and we've just fallen down it."

"Thief, thief!" they heard someone shout in the distance, "You're my thief!" they looked up to see a woman with big hair in a blue Victorian style dress running at them, pointing at the Doctor, as an older man and woman chased her, wearing mismatched clothing.

"She's dangerous!" the older woman warned, "Guard yourself!"

The woman ran straight for the Doctor, grabbing his shoulders as she looked at him, "Look at you!" she cried, "Goodbye! No, not goodbye, what's the other one?" and then kissed him suddenly as he struggled to pull away.

"Watch out," the older man tried to pull the woman off, "Careful, keep back from her…" the woman was tugged away, laughing as she moved, the Doctor wiping his mouth and running a hand through his hair, very uncomfortable, "Welcome strangers, lovely, sorry about the mad person."

"Why am I a thief what have I stolen?" the Doctor asked as the woman walked past the older man and woman to look around.

"Me," she replied, "You're going to steal me. You have stolen me. You are stealing me. Oh! Tenses are difficult, aren't they?" and then she gasped, pointing at the Professor, "Flora!" and ran over to her, hugging her tightly, much to her confusion, nearly swinging her side to side in the hug.

"Um…I'm not Flora," the Professor managed to pull away just a bit.

"Yes you are," the woman nodded, "You're my flora!" and hugged her again before pulling away suddenly and spinning around to look at Amy and Rory.

"Oh, we are sorry my doves," the older woman sighed, "She's off her head. They call me Auntie," she shook the Doctor's hand and then the Professor's.

"And I'm Uncle," Uncle stepped up to shake the Professor's hand first, "I'm everybody's uncle," he patted the Doctor's cheek, "Just keep back from this one," he jerked his head towards the woman, "She BITES!"

"Do I?" the woman's eyes widened, "Excellent!" and then she pulled the Doctor to her and bit the side of his face.

"Ow!" he shouted as everyone tried to pull the woman back, "OW!"

"Biting's excellent!" the woman cheered as the Doctor rubbed his face, "It's like kissing only there's a winner."

"I'm sorry, she's doolally," Uncle apologized.

"No, I'm not doolally, I'mmmmmm…I'mmmmm…it's on the tip of my tongue…" she gasped, "I've just had a new idea about kissing. Come here!" she lunged at the Doctor who ran behind the Professor as though she could protect him, while Auntie and Uncle held the woman back.

"No!" Auntie shouted, pulling her, "Idris no!"

"Oh, but now you're angry," Idris frowned at the Doctor, "No, you're not. You  _will_   _be_  angry," she tilted her head, thoughtful, "The little boxes will make you angry…" and then her gaze drifted to the Professor, "But they'll make you sad and scared."

The Professor frowned as the Doctor stepped past her, "Sorry, the little what? Boxes?"

She laughed and grabbed his chin, "Your chin is hilarious!" she then turned to look at Rory, "It means the smell of dust after rain."

"What does?" Rory shook his head.

"Petrichor."

"But I didn't ask."

"Not yet, but you will."

"No, no Idris," Auntie pulled her back, "You should have a rest."

"Rest, yes. Good idea. I'll just see if there's an off switch," she pitched forward into a faint, Rory just managing to catch her as he and the Doctor moved to set her down in a nearby wheelbarrow.

"Is that it?" Uncle asked, "She dead now? So sad."

"No, she's still breathing," Rory called.

Uncle flinched, "Uh, Nephew…" he turned as an Ood with green eyes walked up, "Take Idris where she cannot bite people."

The Doctor turned around and smiled, seeing the Ood, "Oh, hello! "

Amy turned and nearly jumped out of her skin at the sight, "Oh, Doctor, what is that?"

"It's alright," the Professor told her, "It's an Ood."

"Ood are good," the Doctor nodded, "Love an Ood," he walked over to it, "Hello Ood! Can you talk?" he looked down at the orb in its hand, "Oh, I see, it's damaged…" he glanced at the Ood, "May I?"

The Ood nodded and the Doctor moved to reach for the orb when the Professor slapped his hands and took the ball herself, "Knowing you," she remarked, "You'd somehow turn it into a bomb," he pouted but contented himself to watch her work, "Might just be on the wrong frequency…" she muttered.

"Nephew was broken when he came here," Auntie told them, "Why he was half dead. House repaired him. House repaired all of us."

The Professor put the cap back on and the air was full of voices.

"If you are receiving this message, please help me," they could hear a man speak over the hubbub of other voices, "Send a signal to the High Council of the Time Lords on Gallifrey…" the Doctor and Professor gasped, looking around, hearing the Time Lords speaking, "Help! I'm still alive! I don't know where I am. I'm on some rock-like planet…" his voice became muddled as the other voices overlapped his own.

Nephew turned off the translator.

"What was that?" Rory frowned, pointing at the Ood, "Was that him?"

"No, no, it's uh, picking up something else," the Professor breathed as she and the Doctor looked around, disturbed, "But that's not possible."

The Doctor spun to Auntie and Uncle, "Who else is here? Tell us. Show us. Show us!" he advanced on them and they backed up.

"It's just what you see," Auntie gestured at herself and Uncle, "Just the four of us and the House. Nephew, will you take Idris somewhere safe where she can't hurt nobody."

"The House?" the Professor frowned, "What's the House?"

Auntie grinned, "House is all around you my sweets," Uncle jumped in place, "You are standing on him. This is the House. This world," she leaned forward, "Would you like to meet him?"

"Meet him?" Rory gaped.

The Doctor held a finger up to Rory, "We'd love to."

"This way, come," Uncle gestured them to follow, "Please, come."

"What's wrong?" Amy walked over to the Time Lords, "What were those voices?"

"Time Lords," the Professor breathed.

"It's not just the Corsair," the Doctor nodded, "Somewhere close by there are lots and lots of Time Lords."

He took the Professor's hand and they walked off after Auntie and Uncle.

~8~

Uncle led them into a room with a grate that had a glowing green light beneath it. He stood there and gestured them over, "Come, come, come, you can see House and he can look at you."

The Doctor and Professor exchanged a look before walking over and kneeling down, looking down the grate only to see more green light.

"This asteroid is sentient," the Professor realized.

"We walk on his back," Auntie nodded, "Breathe his air, eat his food…"

"Smell its armpits," Amy added quietly.

"And do my will," Auntie and Uncle said at once, another voice speaking through them. The Doctor popped up, alarmed, as the Professor frowned, looking up at the two, "You are most welcome travelers."

"Doctor…Professor…that voice," Amy hesitated, "That's the um, asteroid talking?"

"Yes, so you're like uh…" the Doctor stepped down as the Professor turned to sit on the step, "Sea urchin," he crouched down and looked through another grate, "Hard outer surface, that's the planet we're walking on," and stood up once more, "Big squashy oogly thing inside, that's you?"

"That is correct, Time Lord," House answered.

The Professor frowned, "So you've met Time Lords before."

"Many travelers have come through the rift. Like Auntie and Uncle and Nephew. I repair them when they break."

The Doctor turned back to Auntie and Uncle, "So there are Time Lords here then?"

"Not anymore. But there have been many TARDISes on my back in days gone by."

"Oh, well, there won't be any more after us. Last Time Lords. Last TARDIS," he stepped back over to the Professor, holding out a hand to her, helping her up.

"A pity. Your people were so kind," the Professor frowned at that, as much as they loved thinking of their own people in the days of old, many of them hadn't been that pure in ages, "Be here in safety Doctor, Professor. Rest. Feed if you will."

Auntie and Uncle shook their heads, coming out of it.

"We're not actually gonna stay here are we?" Rory frowned.

"Well, it seems like a friendly planet," the Doctor commented, "Literally."

The Professor turned to Auntie and Uncle, "Do you mind if we poke around a bit?"

"You can look all you want," Auntie nodded, "Go. Look," she hobbled over to Amy and took her hair in her mismatched hands, "House loves you."

The Professor frowned at the hands, noticing the Doctor doing the same. He clapped, "Come on then gang, we're just going to…uh…see the sights."

~8~

As the Doctor and Professor walked through the tunnels, the Professor frowned, almost swearing she'd heard someone call out 'flora' and 'thief' but shook her head.

The Doctor seemed to hear it as well as he suddenly stopped and shushed Amy and Rory a moment.

"So as soon as the TARDIS is refueled we can go, yeah?" Rory asked.

"No!" the Doctor shook his head, "There are Time Lords here, we heard them, and they need us."

"You told me about your people and you told me what you did…" Amy shook her head.

"Yes, yes, but if they're like the Corsair they're good ones and we can save them."

"And tell them you both were responsible for the destruction of all the others?"

"We can explain. Tell them why I had to," he took the Professor's hand and walked off again.

"You want to be forgiven."

The Doctor stopped and slumped. The Professor put her hand on his shoulder and looked back at Amy, "Don't we all?" she asked her for him.

Amy nodded, seeing how important this was to them, "What do you need from me?"

The Doctor patted his coat, "My screwdriver, I left it in the TARDIS. It's in my jacket."

"You're wearing your jacket," Rory pointed out.

"My other jacket."

"You have two of those?"

"Have you seen how many bow ties he has?" the Professor countered.

"Bow ties are cool," the Doctor defended.

"Maybe in the stuck-on bubble Universe," the Professor rolled her eyes, "But in  _our_  Universe..."

"Ok," Amy cut in, not wanting their little 'disagreement' on bow ties to lead to them flirting again, how they'd manage to do that was beyond her but she didn't doubt they would, "I'll get it but Doctor listen to me, don't get emotional because that's when you make mistakes."

"Anger is always the shortest distance to a mistake," the Professor recited from somewhere.

He rolled his eyes and saluted at Amy, "Yes boss."

"Call you from the TARDIS," Amy tossed him her phone, "Rory look after them," Rory looked after Amy with reluctance.

"Rory," the Professor called and he turned to her, "Look after her."

Rory grinned and ran off, leaving the two of them to walk the tunnels. A few minutes later the phone in the Doctor's pocket buzzed and he answered it.

"Hey," Amy called, "Uh, we're here, screwdriver's in your jacket yeah?"

The Professor reached into the Doctor's pocket and pulled out the sonic, he grinned at her, "Yeah, it's around somewhere. Have a good look."

The Professor turned it on and they could hear a lock click before the Doctor ended the call.

~8~

They ran into a room and stopped short, just knowing the Time Lords were in there but unable to see them. The Doctor looked around a moment, "Come on…where are you? Huh? Where are you all? Where are you?"

"Doctor," the Professor put a hand on his, "Calm down," she breathed, taking his hands. She closed her eyes and he did the same, both of them inhaling deeply to focus, before sensing them. Their eyes snapped open and they turned to look at a wall to their left, walking over to it.

The Doctor pushed a curtain back and looked around as they stepped through, "Well they can't all be in here…" he looked to the side, spotting a blue cupboard. He frowned, walking over to it, and pulled it open.

Their hearts sank, seeing about ten glowing white distress boxes sitting there, each of them still going off, their voices overlapping.

The Doctor glanced back as Auntie and Uncle stepped up behind them, the Professor just looking intently at the markings on the side of the boxes, trying to identify their owners, see if she recognized any of them.

"Just admiring your Time Lord distress signal collection," he swallowed, glancing at the boxes, the horrible realization not only that he'd been fooled but that his hope was crushed by the fact that the Time Lords were truly dead, "Nice job. Brilliant job. Really thought we had some friends here…but this is what the Ood translator picked up, cries for help from the  _lon_ g dead…" he turned to them, "How many Time Lords have you lured here the way you lured us? And what happened to them all?"

"House," Auntie began, "House is kind. And he is wise…"

"House repairs you when you break!" he advanced on them dangerously, "Yes I know!" he pulled out the sonic, "But how does he mend you?" he flashed them, staring at Uncle, "You've got the eyes of a twenty year old."

"Thank you," Uncle tried to smile.

"No, no, I mean it. Literally, your eyes are thirty years younger than the rest of you," he ripped the man's hat off, revealing a blue elfin ear, "Your ears don't match," and then looked at the rest of him, "Your right arm is two inches longer than your left. And how's your dancing? 'Cos you got two left feet. Patchwork people. You've been repaired and patched up so often I doubt there's anything left of what used to be you," he put the sonic away and grabbed Auntie's larger arm, "I had an umbrella like you once."

"Oh, now, it's been…it's been a great arm for me this…" she held up her arm, the Doctor's gaze zeroing in on the snake tattoo on it.

"Corsair…" he breathed.

"He was a strapping big bloke, wasn't he Uncle?"

"Big fellow," Uncle agreed.

"I got the arm. And um, Uncle got the spine and kidneys."

"Kidneys."

"You gave us hope and then you took it away," the Doctor glared at them, "That's enough to make anyone dangerous. God knows what it will do to us. Basically…RUN!" Auntie turned and fled, Uncle backing up slowly.

"Poor old Time Lord," Uncle grinned, "Too late. House is too clever."

He turned and left the fuming Time Lord standing there. He whirled around, his anger nearly melting when he spotted the Professor still standing before the boxes, just looking at them, stiff. He blinked, noting her body language and walked over to her. He frowned, seeing her face pale, her eyes hard but with tears in them.

"What's wrong?" he breathed.

She swallowed hard and pointed at one box. He looked over, seeing an image of a raised fist, and his eyes went wide.

"So that's where he got to…" she murmured, looking down at her father's symbol on the box.

"Kata…"

"Don't," she cut in, trying to blink away her tears, "Don't Theta."

He put a hand on her shoulder, sliding it around to her other one and pulled her towards him in a hug, dropping a kiss to the side of her head as they stared at the white box before them. A moment later his pocket vibrated and he pulled out Amy's phone.

"No sonic screwdriver," Amy told them, anger in her voice, "Also the doors seem to have locked behind us. Rory thinks there's a perfectly innocent explanation but I think you lied to us…"

"Time Lord stuff," he replied, "Needed you out of the way."

"What we're not good enough for your smart new friends?"

"Boxes will make you angry and me sad and scared," the Professor muttered, frowning, and looked at the Doctor, stunned, "How could she know?"

"Doctor what's she talking about?"

"Stay put, stay exactly where you are," the Doctor told her before dashing off with the Professor, ending the call.

~8~

The Doctor ran with the Professor into a room where Idris sat in a large cage-like area, stopping short as he eyed the woman, sitting there with her eyes closed, "How did you know about the boxes? You said they'd make me angry, that they'd make the Professor scared, sad, how did you know?"

"Ah," Idris smiled to herself, "It's my thief and flora."

"Who are you?"

"Hmm?" she opened her eyes, "It's about time."

"We don't understand. Who are you?"

"Do you really not know me?" Idris eyed them, "Just because they put me in here?"

"They said you were dangerous."

"Not the cage stupid," she stepped forward and knelt on the floor, pressing her face to the bars, "In  _here_ ," she put her hands on the bars, smiling up at him, amused, "They put ME in here. I'm the…oh what do you call me? We travel. I go…" she breathed out, imitating the wheezing of the TARDIS.

"The TARDIS?" the Professor eyed her.

"Time and Relative Dimensions in Space. Yes that's it. Names are funny. It's me," she pulled herself up, "I'm the TARDIS."

"No you're not!" the Doctor shook his head, "You're a bitey mad lady. The TARDIS is up and downy stuff in a big blue box."

"Yes, that's me. A Type 40 TARDIS. I was already a museum piece when you were young. And the first time you touched my console you said…"

"I said you were the most beautiful thing I had ever known," he breathed, stunned.

She smiled, "And then the Professor said 'She is beautiful, isn't she?'" she drifted in memory a bit, recalling how the woman had said the same thing when the Doctor found her again, before shaking her head, "And you turned to her and said, 'However true that is,  _you_  are still the most beautiful  _person_  I have ever known.' She laughed at you and said…"

"Now I know you're mad," the Professor whispered, equally stunned, "A madman with a box."

Idris laughed and looked at her, "You were the first person to ever call him that," she sighed in reminiscence, "Oh, you two used to sit in my control room and plan all the adventures you wanted. The people you would meet, the places you would go…"

They had been 200 years old, barely, when they found her in the back of a museum near the Academy, their secret place.

~/~\~

_"I've got it!" he shouted as he ran into the control room of the Type 40 TARDIS they'd made their secret place._

_"Got what?" she looked up at him from sitting in the middle of a mess of papers and maps and books, all spread out around her._

_"Shakespeare!" he beamed, plopping down in front of her, careful not to disrupt her work though, "We should meet William Shakespeare. I bet he's brilliant! No, I bet he's a genius. Seriously, I just read some of his works for my class, I'd love to be able to ask him where he's gotten his words from. They're just brilliant, beautiful, new...so human too!"_

_She laughed, shaking her head, "Theta, he's already on the list."_

_He blinked, "Really?"_

_She nodded, reaching to the side and pulling out a small high-tech writing tablet, scrolling through it before showing him the S section of their list of places, events, and people they wanted to visit, witness, and meet, "See," she held it up, pointing at 'Shakespeare, William' written there._

_"You and your organization Kata," he sighed, mock pouting, "It would be brilliant to meet him twice though."_

_She gave him a smile, "Knowing you, we'd have to meet him a second time to apologize, and when we did meet him for the first time he'd already know who you were because you got the timing off."_

_"I'm really not that bad," he mock whined._

_She patted his cheek, "Tell me that once you've passed your exams."_

_"I will do one day," he defended lightly, "And I won't need a skirt to do it," she rolled her eyes at him, "You'll see."_

_"And until then you're going to continue to blame the TARDISes, aren't you?" she laughed. He always seemed to come from the exams and claim the TARDIS he'd been piloting just didn't like him and purposefully wasn't doing what he wanted or taking him where he wanted to go._

_"Because it's their fault!" he exclaimed._

_She patted his shoulder, "Keep telling yourself that Theta."_

_He rolled his eyes at her this time and took the list, starting to smile as he scrolled through it some more, "We'll do it one day, won't we Kata?" he looked at her._

_She nodded, smiling, "Together."_

_He beamed, "The two of us and this old box here," he patted the console beside him._

~/~\~

Idris looked at the Doctor once more, a sadness in her eyes, "I was so sad when you left without my flora. I was looking forward to her being with us. I was waiting for her…for you," she turned to the Professor, "You would have been there since the beginning my flora, but my thief ran off before you could join…" she sighed, "You were so close too, just outside the door when he left…"

The Doctor looked over at the Professor, stunned. He knew she had come looking for him the day he disappeared after the separation with Mayra. He hadn't known she'd been so close…so close, yet so far…

"He stole me," Idris continued, smiling, "And I stole him," she smiled at the Professor, "I'm so happy to finally have you back."

"I borrowed you," the Doctor shook his head, breathless though he was.

"Borrowing implies the eventual intention to return the thing that was taken," Idris corrected, "What makes you think I would ever give you back? Either of you now that I've finally got you both?"

"You're the TARDIS?" the Professor breathed, looking at her in a mixture of awe and shock.

"Yes."

" _My_  TARDIS?" the Doctor exclaimed.

" _Our_  TARDIS," the Professor corrected.

Idris grinned, "My Doctor, my Professor," she smirked, "Oh! We have now reached the point in the conversation where you open the lock," she backed away and waited. The Doctor just stared at her, stunned, so the Professor pulled the sonic out of his hands and flashed the cell door. Idris beamed and stepped out, walking right over to them and staring at them, "Are all people like this?"

"Like what?" the Professor asked.

"So much bigger on the inside. I'm…" she let out a frustrated breath and stepped past them, "Oh what is that word? It's so BIG, so complicated, and it's so sad…"

"But why?" the Doctor shook his head, "Why pull the living soul from the TARDIS and pop it in a tiny human head? What does it want you for?"

"Oh, he doesn't want me," she turned and walked back, sniffing the Professor.

"How do you know?"

"House eats TARDISes."

"House what?"

"What do you mean?" the Professor asked.

"I don't know, something I heard him say," Idris nodded at the Doctor.

"When?"

"In the future."

"House eats TARDISes?" he asked her skeptically.

She smiled, "Oh there you go," she put her thumb on his mouth to keep him quiet, before turning to the Professor, "What are fish fingers?"

"When do I say that?" he forced out from behind her thumb.

"Any second."

"Of course!" the Professor's eyes widened.

"House feeds on rift energy," he nodded.

"And TARDISes are bursting with it…"

"Lovely and cooked."

"Like processed food."

"Mmm, fish fingers."

"Do fish have fingers?" Idris wondered, though inwardly beaming at being able to finally witness their shared sentences.

"But you can't eat a TARDIS," the Professor shook her head, "It would destroy you, unless…"

"Unless you deleted the TARDIS matrix first," she nodded.

"So it deleted you?" the Doctor nearly laughed.

"But House can't just delete a TARDIS consciousness," Idris looked at the Professor and then the Doctor, back and forth as she spoke, "That would blow a hole in the Universe…so it pulls out the matrix and sticks it into a living receptacle…and then it feeds off the remaining Artron Energy…" she gasped, "You two were about to say all that…I don't suppose you have to now. Though I must say I do love hearing you speak with each other. It's hysterical the faces the others make when you do."

"The others!" the Professor gasped.

"We sent Amy and Rory in there!" the Doctor realized as well, "They'll be eaten! Amy!" he pulled out the phone and they ran out of the room.

~8~

"Amy!" the Doctor shouted into the phone as he and the Professor ran across the junkyard towards the TARDIS, "Rory! Get the hell out of there!"

"Doctor, something's wrong…" Amy answered.

"Yeah, it's House, he's after the TARDIS."

"Just get out both of you!" the Professor shouted

"We can't, the doors are locked, remember?" Amy remarked.

"But we've unlocked them!" he insisted.

"You bloody well haven't!" they could see the TARDIS now, the lights inside going out, "Doctor, Professor, I don't like this."

They ran right over to it, the Professor sonicing it as the Doctor tried snapping his fingers, but nothing worked.

"Open!" the Professor ran to it, trying to push the doors open, "Open!"

"Doctor!" Amy yelled, "Professor!"

"OPEN THIS DOOR!" the Doctor ran to the door as well, trying to help.

"Amy!" the Professor banged on the door, "Rory!"

The TARDIS wheezed as it began to dematerialize, the Doctor and Professor forced to step back. He pulled out the phone once more, "Amy? Amy can you hear me?" but there was only static, he flipped it closed and looked at the Professor, "Ok, right, I don't…I really don't know what to do…" he smiled a bit, "That's a new feeling…"

"Not the time," the Professor reminded him, grabbing his arm and pulling him back the way they came.

~8~

"It's gone," the Professor shouted as they ran back into the room where Idris was sitting, Auntie and Uncle in the back.

"Eaten?" Idris looked at them, alarmed.

"No, it left!" the Doctor shook his head, "Not eaten. Hijacked…" he started pacing, "But why?"

"It's time for us both to go Uncy," Auntie remarked from the back of the room, wrapping blankets around themselves, "Together."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, go? What do you mean go? Where are you going?"

"Well we're dying my love," Auntie walked over to a chair across from them, sitting down, "It's time for Auntie and Uncle to pop off."

"I'm against it," Uncle remarked.

"It's your fault isn't it sweets? 'Cos you told House it was the last TARDIS. House can't feed on 'em if there's no more coming."

Uncle plopped down as well, "So now he's off to your Universe to find more TARDISes."

"It won't," the Professor insisted.

"Oh, it'll think of something," Auntie nodded knowingly before she stiffened and fell to the side, literally keeling over. The Doctor ran to check on her, sonicing her.

"Actually…" Uncle stood, "I feel fine…" and then he fell down himself.

"You're not dead!" the Doctor shouted, jumping over the man's body, "You can't just die!"

"We need to go to where I landed, quickly," Idris called out.

"Why?" the Professor looked at her.

"'Cos we are there in three minutes," she got up, "We need to go…now…" and ran for the door, only to stop, grabbing her side in pain, "Ow!" she turned to them, "Roughly how long do these bodies last?"

The Doctor quickly scanned her, "You're dying…"

Idris rolled her eyes, "Yes, of course I'm dying," she snatched the sonic away, "I don't belong in a flesh body! Could blow the casing in no time," she looked at him as he frowned at her, "No, stop it, don't get emotional. That's what the orangey girl says. Be more like her," she nodded at the Professor who was standing there trying to at least stay calm and collected, knowing that getting all worked up wouldn't help them any, "You're the Doctor…" she held out the sonic, "Focus."

"On what?" he asked, "How? I'm a madman with a box without a box!" he snatched the sonic and put it away, "We're stuck on the plug hole at the end of the Universe in a stupid old junkyard!"

"Oh…" the Professor's eyes widened in realization.

"Oh what?" Idris asked.

"We're not," the Doctor grinned, turning to the Professor, seeing her thought.

"Not what?"

"'Cos it's not a junkyard, don't you see? It's not a junkyard."

"What is it then?"

"It's a  _TARDIS_  junkyard!" the Professor cheered.

"Come on!" the Doctor clapped and they ran past Idris. The Doctor stopped short and turned around to face her, "Oh, sorry, uh, do you have a name?"

"700 years finally he asks," Idris remarked to the Professor.

"So what do we call you?"

"Don't you call me…sexy?" she smirked, looking at him knowingly, "You call the Professor that as well."

"…only when we're alone," he blushed.

"We  _are_  alone," the Professor reminded him.

He grinned, "Come on then sexies!" he grabbed their hands and ran off.

~8~

They Doctor scanned the junkyard as they ran into it, jumping up on a hill overlooking it as the Professor helped Idris up to it, the three of them looking down at the massive area.

"Valley of half-eaten TARDISes," the Professor breathed.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" the Doctor asked.

"I'm thinking all of my sisters are dead," Idris remarked, "That they were devoured, and that we are looking at their corpses."

"Ah, sorry, no, I wasn't thinking that…"

"No, you were thinking you could build a working TARDIS console out of broken remnants of a hundred different models," she looked at him, "And you don't care that it's impossible."

"It's not impossible as long as we're alive," the Professor determined.

The Doctor nodded, "Rory and Amy need us. So yeah, we're gonna build a TARDIS."

"Shouldn't be too hard," the Professor remarked, the Doctor and Idris looked at her, "I've done it before, sort of an experiment during my time as an Academic when I was trying to decide what to make as my masterpiece."

The Doctor grinned, "Brilliant!" he grabbed her hand and they ran down the hill towards the junk, excited. Idris sighed and shook her head at them before following, ready to make sure the Doctor didn't blow up the planet and that the Professor didn't kill him for it.

~8~

Idris stood, examining a piece of tech, while the Doctor tried to pull a large wall along by a chain, the Professor half buried in a pile of wires, trying to find ones that weren't frayed to all hell to use.

"Bond the tube directly into the tacking diverter…" Idris called.

"Yes, I have actually rebuilt a TARDIS before you know," the Doctor commented, "I know what I'm doing."

"You two are like nine year olds trying to rebuild a motor bike in your bedrooms…and  _you_ ," she looked pointedly at the Doctor, " _Never_  read the instructions."

"I _always_  read the instructions."

The Professor snorted.

"There's a sign on my front door, you have been walking past it for 700 years, what does it say?" Idris asked.

"It says…" the Professor began but Idris clapped a hand over her mouth, silencing her.

"Oh no, I want to hear this," she smirked and turned to the Doctor expectantly.

"That's not instructions," he defended.

"There's an instruction at the bottom, what does it say?"

"Pull to open."

"Yes and what do you do?"

"I push!"

"Every single time, 700 years, police box doors open out the way."

The Doctor tossed down the chains and stalked over to her as the Professor watched, amused, "You know, I think I have earned the right to open my front doors any way I want!"

" _Your_  front doors? Have you any idea how childish that sounds?"

He turned and walked off, "You are not my mother!"

"I'm as good as," she countered, "You act far too much like a child."

"Ha!" he spun around to her, "You know, since we're talking with mouths, not really an opportunity that comes along very often, I just want to say you know YOU…" he pointed at her, making her lean back, "Have never been very reliable."

"And you have?"

"You didn't always take me where I wanted to go," he turned and walked back to the wall.

"No, but I always took you where you  _needed_  to go!"

He spun around, "HA!" he shouted, "I  _knew_  it!" he rounded on the Professor, "I  _told_  you!" he strode over to her, "I told you it was the TARDISes, but noooo you didn't believe me!"

"Doctor calm down," she stood up and walked over to him.

"No! I will not calm down!" he nearly shotued at her, "It wasn't my fault I didn't pass the exams! It was the TARDISes! I knew it!"

"She's one TARDIS Doctor. You had exams in at least a dozen others and you  _still_  didn't pass. Are you trying to say that ALL the TARDISes were against you?"

"Yes!"

Now that made no sense at all. He was clearly losing his mind in his rantings.

"Doctor," the Professor swallowed, seeing him nearly heaving, getting very worked up over it all, getting all his frustrations out, "You need to calm down."

"Why? Why should I calm down?"

"Because you getting all worked up over your stupid exams is not helping me focus."

"Not helping you focus?" he scoffed.

"Yes," she put her hands on her hips, "You're distracting me."

"Me?" he shouted again, "How am  _I_  distracting you?"

"You really have no idea what this," she gestured at his huffing, his red face, the fire in his eyes, the way his body was tensing, how he was just letting it all out, letting himself go, running on raw emotion, the appeal he was exuding, "Is doing to me do you? Now, I'm trying _very_  hard  _not_  to let it get to me but you  _need_  to calm down or..."

"Or what?" his eyes narrowed in challenge.

She looked him square in the eyes for a moment before telling him  _exactly_  or what.

"Or so help me I will push you against those crates over there and have my wicked way with you until you literally beg for mercy...twice."

He froze.

His mouth dropped open, his eyes widened, the entire tension in his body disappeared as as he gaped at her, stunned.

"Pus...wic...twi..." he sputtered, unable to truly muster a coherent thought at her words.

She nodded and spun on her heel, forcing herself to walk back over to Idris and kneel by the wires again. She swallowed hard, trying to get control of herself again. It wasn't often the Doctor lost control or got worked up enough to start shouting, and for some reason, the fact that he did lose control like that appealed to her probably as much as the sight of her with her blaster out appealed to the Doctor, maybe more so.

She cleared her throat, "That ought to keep him quiet for at least ten minutes."

Idris looked between her and the Doctor, who was still standing there in the same position, his eyes nearly impossibly wide, "I think you broke him," she remarked to the Professor.

She leaned back and looked at the Doctor before shaking her head, "He'll be fine. In a few seconds he'll be running on autopilot."

Sure enough, the Doctor closed his mouth and went back to the wall, tugging on it, though they could both see a dazed look in his eyes, his mind clearly wasn't there.

"Enjoy it while it lasts," she told Idris, "This'll probably be the most quiet you'll ever see him being."

Idris nodded in thought, "Yes, he is quite loud, you are too though at times," she smirked down at the woman, wanting to tease her about her and the Doctor as so many of their Companions did, "I suppose it's a good thing I made your rooms soundproof, isn't it?"

This time it was the Professor's mouth that dropped open, her face going red.

Idris laughed, "Now who's being quiet?"

"...shut up..." she muttered, focusing on the wires.

~8~

Just as the Professor guessed, not ten minutes later the Doctor stopped in his tracks, carrying a piece of a console panel towards the walls the Professor was welding, with a shout of, "TALKING!"

The Professor and Idris both jumped at the sudden shout, all of them having been working in relative quiet for the last ten minutes to see him running over to them.

"Look at us, talking!" he looked at Idris, excited, as he moved to attach the panel, "Wouldn't it be amazing if we could always talk, even when you're stuck inside the box?"

"But you know I'm not constructed that way," Idris blinked, moving to help him wire the panel into the last of the console they'd set up, "I exist across all space and time and you talk and…run around and…bring home strays dogs and you've even got the Professor doing it too! Though, I do like her pretty kitties but…" she suddenly collapsed a bit, the Professor quickly putting down her welding torch and moving to her side to steady her.

"You're ok?" the Doctor asked.

"One of the kidneys has already failed," she told him, before shaking her head, "It doesn't matter we need to finish assembling the console," Idris pushed herself back to her feet.

"Using a console without a proper shell…" the Doctor whistled, seeming to have gotten over his shock, though at the mention of the Professor he'd begun blushing, "It's not going to be safe…"

The Professor smiled, "When is anything we do safe?" he smiled back at her, though there was a glint in his eyes that promised something to come later.

"This body has about 8 minutes left to live," Idris commented, "The Universe we're in will reach absolute zero in three hours. Safe is relative."

The Doctor nodded, "Then we need to get a move on. Eh, old girl?" he grinned and turned to rush back into the junkyard to get the last component they needed, a rotor.

Idris placed a hand on her side and turned to finish the wiring, the Professor moving to help her.

"Why do you call me flora?" the Professor asked after a few moments of silence.

Idris looked over at her, "It means flower."

"Yes…I know that…but why do you call me it?"

"Because you're my flower," she told her simply. The Professor gave her a look, clearly not understanding, and Idris just smiled at her, "First you were a begonia, then a cyprus cyclamen, a petunia, chimaphila, marigold, hydrangea, rue, foxtail amaranth, oleander, candytuft, and now you're a freesia. So many different flowers, cultivated from so many different troubles. Yet it's as they say, a flower that blooms in adversity is truly the most beautiful of all. And, no matter what, YOU always do, bloom that is, bloom and grow. You form the most magnificent bouquet."

The Professor smiled a bit at that, touched, "Thank you."

Idris nodded, "And you smell like a flower too."

The Professor laughed and shook her head, looking up to see the Doctor lugging the rotor over. She ran off to help him as Idris moved to a small pile of tech beside the makeshift controls, just looking for any last minute things they might need.

He shot her a grateful smile as they carried the rotor between the two of them to the TARDIS.

"You'll need to install the time rotor," Idris called to them.

"How is this going to make it through the rift?" the Doctor asked.

"Useless…" she muttered, tossing a piece of junk behind her.

They lowered the rotor into the hole in the center of the console, "Almost done…" the Professor called over, "Rustif fuser…" Idris looked over as the Doctor and Professor examined the controls, "Retroscope…"

"Blue thingy…" the Doctor nodded at another button.

"Stabilizers," the Professor corrected.

"Do you ever wonder why I chose you two all those years ago?" Idris asked them, "Why I let you into my control room?"

"We chose you," the Doctor said as they jogged over, "You were unlocked."

"Of course I was," she turned and walked over to them, "I wanted to see the Universe, as did you. So I stole a Time Lord and I ran away. And you two were the only ones mad enough to want to leave."

"Right," the Doctor clapped, looking at the console, "Perfect, look at that, what could possibly go wrong?"

A piece of the console popped off.

" _Every time_ ," the Professor muttered.

"That's fine, that always happens. Nope hang on wait!" he turned to a pile of junk and grabbed three red velvet ropes, handing them to each of the girls before they walked to the console and hooked themselves up with the ropes. Idris placed a wire hanger on a small hook and moved to strap herself in, "Right, ok, let's go. Follow that TARDIS!" he and the Professor got to punching in buttons as Idris caught sight of herself in the mirror before her, pulling and tugging at her face, scrunching it up as they worked.

The console powered down.

"Come on now," the Professor frowned, pulling a lever, "There's rift energy everywhere."

The Doctor punched in a code and tried again but nothing happened, "Ok…diverting all power to thrust…let's be having ya…" he wound something up and the console sparked, "Ah! No, no, no, no, no!"

"What's wrong?" Idris looked over.

"It can't hold the charge," the Professor sighed.

"It can't even start!" the Doctor glared at the console, "There's no power!" he turned to see Idris pulling her lip back as she looked in the mirror, "Will you…" he put his hand in front of it to block the image, "We've got nothing…"

Idris simply smiled at him, "You have what you've always had. You've got me."

She kissed her finger, her eyes glowing gold with the power of the Vortex, before she tapped the rotor, powering it up. The Doctor grinned as the familiar wheezing noise sounded and they jolted. A circle of golden energy appeared around them and they disappeared.

~8~

They were flying through the Universe, the golden energy all around them, the walls holding up so far.

"Woo!" the Doctor cheered.

"We've locked on to them," the Professor called, checking the readings.

"They'll have to lower the shields when we're close enough to phase inside," Idris added.

"Can you get a message to Amy?" the Doctor asked.

The Professor nodded, "The telepathic circuits are online."

"Which one's Amy?" Idris shouted over the noise, "The pretty one?"

"Sure!" the Doctor called.

"Why not," the Professor agreed.

Idris nodded and closed her eyes, putting her hands on either side of the rotor, reaching out. She opened her eyes as her mind touched the pretty one, "Hello pretty!" she greeted.

The Doctor ran over and looked into a small monitor where he could see a faint image of Rory hanging from a ladder, "Don't worry, telepathic messaging. No that's Rory!" he ran back to the controls.

"You have to go to the old control room," Idris told him, "I'm putting the route in your head. When you get there use the purple slider on the nearest panel to lower the shields."

This time the Professor ran over and looked at the image, "The pretty one?" she smiled.

"You have about twelve seconds before the room goes into phase with the invading matrix. I'll send you the passkey when you get there. Good luck!" she pulled her hands away from the rotor, ending the transmission.

"How's he gonna be able to take down the shields anyway?" the Doctor asked, "The House is in the control room!"

"I directed him to one of the old control rooms."

"There aren't any old control rooms. They were all deleted or remodeled."

"I archived them. For neatness. I've got about 30 now."

"But I've only changed the desktop what a dozen times?"

"So far, yes."

"You can't archive something that hasn't happened yet."

" _You_  can't."

"Honestly Doctor," the Professor called, "She's an eleven-dimensional being, what makes you think she couldn't?"

~8~

"We're going!" the Professor called as they neared the TARDIS, now able to see it in the distance and growing closer.

"You're doing it you sexy thing!" the Doctor cheered.

"See, you  _do_  call me that!" Idris grinned, "Is it my name?"

"You bet it's your name!"

"Woo!" she put her hands on the rotor once more, just barely managing to send Rory the words 'crimson,' 'eleven,' 'delight,' and 'petrichor,' before the jolting of the makeshift TARDIS made her stumble back.

~8~

"They did it!" the Professor reported, seeing the readings, "Shields are down!"

"Quick!" the Doctor turned to Idris, "Let them know we're coming!"

She nodded and put her hands on the rotor again, bringing up Rory, "We're coming through! Get out of the way or you'll be atomized."

"Where are you coming through?" Rory asked her.

"I don't know!"

"Oh, great. Thanks!"

She cut the connection and looked at the Doctor, "It's not going to hold!"

The Professor pulled a lever and suddenly they were inside the old console room of their last incarnations in the TARDIS, materializing on the ramp.

"Doctor!" Amy shouted, "Professor!" she ran over to them from behind one of the Y-shaped supports.

"Oh, not good," Idris moaned as she tried to get up, "Not good at all…" they ran back to her, helping her up, "How do you walk around in these things?" and then to sit on the floor of the makeshift console.

"We're not quite there yet, just hold on," the Professor told the woman, squeezing her shoulder.

The Doctor turned to Amy and Rory as they slowly made their way over, "Amy, Rory, this is…well…she's our TARDIS. Except she's a woman. She's a woman, and she's our TARDIS."

" _She's_  the TARDIS?" Amy pointed, her eyes wide.

"And she's a woman. She's a woman and she's the TARDIS."

Amy gave him a suspicious look, "Did you wish  _really_  hard?"

"Shut up, not like that!"

The Professor helped Idris stand, "Hello," the woman greeted, "I'm…sexy."

"Oh…" the Doctor rubbed his head and pointed at Amy, "Still, shut up!"

"Environment has been breached," House's voice echoed around them, "Nephew kill them all…"

Amy and Rory looked around for Nephew while the Professor pulled out her blaster to be safe. Idris smirked and nudged the Doctor, seeing him eyeing the Professor, "Now who's sexy?"

"Shut up!" he exclaimed, his voice pitching a bit.

"Where's Nephew?" Rory looked around.

"He was standing right where you materialized…" Amy remarked.

"Ah, well, he must have been redistributed," the Doctor realized.

"Meaning what?" Rory frowned.

"You're breathing him," the Professor stated as Amy and Rory gagged, trying to cover their mouths. She put away her blaster, seeing they were safe from the Ood at least and knowing her blaster would be useless against House.

"Aw, come on…" Amy grimaced.

"Another Ood I failed to save," the Doctor muttered.

"Doctor, Professor, I did not expect you," House remarked.

"Well, that's us all over, isn't it?" he clapped his hands and moved around the console, "Lovely old unexpected us."

"The big question is now you're here…how to dispose of you. I could play with gravity…" they all fell to the floor, struggling to get up, when it stopped suddenly and they jumped to their feet. Idris fell to the ground and the Professor caught her, gently setting her down as Rory ran over, "Or I could evacuate the air from this room and watch you choke…" they started gasping for air as the air was literally sucked out of the room.

"You  _really_  don't want to do that," the Professor ground out.

House ceased removing the air and they gasped to breathe once more, "Why shouldn't I just kill you now?"

"Because then we won't be able to help you," the Doctor told him.

"Listen," the Profess told him, "Your engines, just listen to them, you don't have the thrust and you know it."

"Right now we're your only hope for getting out of your little bubble, through the rift, and into our Universe. And ours is the one with the food in it."

"Water…" Idris gasped in Rory's ear.

"You just have to promise not to kill us. That's all. Just promise."

"You can't be serious!" Amy shouted.

"Very serious. I'm sure it's an entity of its word."

"Doctor!" Rory called, "Professor, she's burning up, she's asking for water."

The Professor walked over to her, kneeling down and taking Idris's hand, squeezing it gently, before looking up at the Doctor with a solemn expression, ' _She's getting weaker._ '

He nodded and knelt down beside her as well, "Hey, hang in there old girl."

The Professor offered a small smile, "Not long now. It'll be over soon."

"Always liked it when you called me old girl," Idris breathed.

"You want me to give my word?" House cut in, "Easy, I promise."

"Fine, ok, we trust you," the Doctor stood up. He looked at the Professor and nodded.

She stood as well, "Just delete 30 percent of the TARDIS rooms, you'll free up enough thrust to make it through. Activate sub routine Sigma 9."

"Why would you tell me this?" House wondered.

"Because we want to get back to our Universe as badly as you do," the Doctor told him, "And I'm nice."

"Yes, I can delete rooms…and I can also rid myself of vermin, if I delete this room first. Thank you Doctor, Professor. That was very helpful. Goodbye Time Lords. Goodbye little humans. Goodbye Idris."

And then a bright light filled the room…

~8~

The group appeared in the main control room, in much the same positions and spots they had been in in the old room, Rory kneeling by Idris, Amy couched a few feet away, the Time Lords standing.

"Yes, you  _could_  do that," the Doctor called, "But it just won't work."

"Hardwired failsafe," the Professor nodded, "Living things from rooms that are deleted are automatically deposited in the main control room."

"But thanks for the lift," the Doctor added as he moved to the console with the Professor, Idris pulling Rory down to speak to him.

"We are in your Universe now," House mentioned, "Why should it matter to me in which room you die? I can kill you just as easily here as anywhere. Fear me, I've killed hundreds of Time Lords."

"Fear us," the Professor retorted.

"We've killed all of them," the Doctor agreed.

"I don't understand," Rory shook his head, "There isn't a forest in here."

"Yeah, you're right, you've completely won. Oh you can kill us in oodles of really inventive ways," he glanced at the Professor who was eyeing Idris closely before shaking her head, not yet, "But before you do kill us allow me, my wife, and my friends Amy and Rory to congratulate you on being a…" he pulled Amy up, "Absolutely worthy opponent," he started clapping.

Amy joined in, "Congratulations?"

The Professor looked at Idris as she closed her eyes and nodded at the Doctor.

"Yup, you've defeated us," the Doctor continued, "Me, my Bonded, my lovely friends here, and last, but definitely not least, the TARDIS matrix herself…"

"A living consciousness," the Professor added, "You RIPPED out of this very control room and locked up into a human body."

"And look at her."

"Doctor, Professor," Rory called, "She's stopped breathing."

"Enough, that is enough," House called as Amy moved to kneel beside Rory.

"No," the Professor glared as she and the Doctor walked around the console, "It's  _never_  enough."

"You  _forced_  the TARDIS into a body so she'd burn out safely a very long way away from this control room!" the Doctor shouted.

"A flesh body can't hold the TARDIS matrix and live."

"Look at her body House."

"And you think I should mourn her?" House nearly laughed.

"No," the Professor said darkly, "We think you should be very,  _very_  careful about what you let back into this control room."

Idris opened her mouth and, with her last breath, the golden energy of the Vortex, of the TARDIS herself, swept out of her.

"You took her from her home!" the Doctor continued, "But now she's back in the box again and she's free!" he held out his arms as the light poured around the room, streaming in and out of the mechanics.

"No!" House screamed, "Doctor! Stop this! Professor! Ow! Stop this now!"

"Look at her," the Professor nodded, "Look at her go!"

"Bigger on the inside," the Doctor watched as the gold overpowered the green, "See House…"

"Make her stop!" House begged.

"That's your problem," the Professor nodded.

"Ahh!"

"Size of a planet but inside you are just so  _small_ ," the Doctor glared.

"Make it stop!"

Idris slumped down, dead, the light gone.

"Finish him off girl," the Professor ordered lightly as she and the Doctor turned to the console, the room growing dark.

"No! Don't do this! Ah! Uh! No!"

Amy and Rory turned, seeing a golden glow behind the Doctor and Professor by the stairs, "Doctor…" someone called, "Professor…" they turned slowly to see a ghostly version of Idris glowing behind them, "Are you there? It's so very dark in here."

The Doctor smiled, taking the Professor's hand as they stepped over to her, "We're here," he reassured her.

Idris looked down at them and smiled, "I've been looking for a word, a big complicated word, one so sad. I found it now."

"What word?" the Professor asked.

"Alive. I'm alive."

"Alive isn't sad," the Doctor shook his head.

"It's sad when it's over. I'll always be here. But this is when we talked. And now, even that has come to an end. There's something I didn't get to say to you."

The Professor nodded, tears in her eyes, "Goodbye…" she whispered.

"No," Idris beamed and they looked at her, "I just wanted to say…hello. Hello Doctor. It's so very,  _very_  nice to meet you," she sniffled, "And hello Professor. I'm so very glad to have you back."

"Please…" the Doctor whispered, squeezing the Professor's hand, "We don't want you to go…"

Idris smiled at them sadly and leaned back, the golden light enveloping her as the wheezing noise echoed. A ghostly 'I love you…' whispered to them before Idris disappeared, leaving the Doctor and Professor standing there, in tears. The Professor turned to him and pulled him into a tight hug as they shared their pain and offered their comfort.

~8~

The Professor was sitting in the harness under the glass floor, wires hanging around her as she worked, the Doctor leaning on a support beam watching her with a small smile.

"How's it going under there?" Rory asked as he headed down the stairs, Amy watching them through the floor.

"Just putting a firewall around the matrix," the Professor smiled at them, "Almost done too."

"Are you gonna make her talk again?" Amy asked.

"Can't," the Doctor sighed.

"Why not?" Rory frowned.

"Spacey wacey isn't it?" Amy guessed.

"Well, actually," the Professor began, "It's because the Time Lords discovered that if you take an eleven-dimensional matrix and fold it into a mechanical…"

Suddenly there was a large spark and the Professor looked up, glaring at the Doctor, who pointed at Rory, who looked down bashful, "Sorry…" he muttered.

The Doctor stuck out his tongue at the Professor, for once it  _wasn't_  his fault.

"Um," Rory cleared his throat, "At the end she was talking, she kept repeating something, I don't know what it meant…"

"What did she say?" the Doctor looked at him.

"'The only water in the forest is the river.' She said we'd need to know that some day. It doesn't make sense, does it?"

The Doctor shrugged and walked behind the Professor to look inside a sort of fuse box, making sure the sparking hadn't done any damage, "Not yet," he looked back at Rory who seemed down, "You ok?"

"No," he admitted and everyone looked at him, "I watched her die. I shouldn't let it get to me, but it still does…" Amy walked down and sat on the steps, "I'm a nurse."

"Letting it get to you," the Doctor murmured as he leaned against the side of the harness, holding onto one side of it, "You know what that's called? Being alive. Best thing there is. Being alive right now is all that counts."

The Professor smiled and nodded, moving to connect two more wires, "I should be finished in about two more minutes and then we're off."

"The Eye of Orion's restful, if you like restful, I could never really get the hang of restful."

"Oh, don't worry," the Professor grinned at him, "I think I can  _teach_  you that. I am the Professor after all."

He laughed and looked up at the TARDIS, "What do you think?" and then at the Professor, "Where do you want to take us kids this time?"

"Look at you pair," Amy remarked, "It's always you two and her isn't it, long after the rest of us have gone. You two and your box off to see the Universe."

"You say that as if it's a bad thing," the Professor smiled, "But honestly it's the best thing there is," she reached out and took the Doctor's hand in her own.

There was a large spark behind them and the Doctor winced, "Uh, the House deleted all the bedrooms. I should probably make you two a new bedroom…you'd like that, wouldn't you?"

Rory and Amy nodded but then started to whisper.

"Ok, um," Amy looked at them, "Doctor, this time could we lose the bunk beds."

"You gave them bunk beds?" the Professor turned to him.

"Bunk beds are cool!" he exclaimed, "A bed  _with_  a ladder! You can't beat that!" the three of them gave him a look and he sighed, "It's your room. Down those stairs, keep walking till you find it. Off you pop."

The Professor got back to work.

Rory turned back on the stairs and looked at them, "Doctor, do you and the Professor have a room?"

Amy just pulled him back up. The Doctor looked over as the Professor connected two wires, making it spark, "Ha!" he pointed at her.

She rolled her eyes at him, "It was actually  _meant_  to do that this time."

He pouted.

She eyed him a moment as he stood there with the pout on his face and felt guilt rise in her, but for something else enitrely, "I'm sorry," she said softly. He looked at her, startled and confused, "For saying what I did back in the junkyard."

He cleared his throat, blushing a bit, "About the, um, getting me to beg for mercy..."

"Yeah," she smiled sadly, "I shouldn't have said that."

It was his turn to eye her now, "Why?"

' _Because I couldn't do it no matter how much I want to,_ ' she said in his mind, ' _Because I'm not real._ '

' _Kata..._ ' he began, mentally as well, as they had agreed to do when speaking of the switch.

' _No, Theta,_ ' she shook her head, her sad smile now a simple frown, ' _I'm not. And it's time we both accept that._ '

He walked over and knelt on the ground before the harness, taking her hands in his own,  _'You ARE real. You are a real version of yourself. Your real body might not be here, but your heart, your soul, your beautiful mind, they are just as much who you are as your body is, and they're here._ '

' _But I'M not,_ ' tears started to fill her eyes, ' _I just want to be here, with you, completely and truly, but I'm not. I have all the right memories, all the right thoughts and feelings, but I'm NOT real. How can I trust myself, knowing that?_ '

He reached out and pressed her hands to his chest, letting her feel his hearts beating, ' _My hearts only ever beat for you Kata,_ ' he told her, holding her hands there with one of his own as he reached out with the other to stroke her cheek, ' _If you can't trust yourself, trust me._ '

' _I do trust you,_ ' she sighed, calming down just a bit, ' _But I can't help but feel like, if we do anything more, if I followed through, it wouldn't be real. And I CAN'T do that to us,_ ' she told him, ' _I won't make any part of what we have less real. Not for anything._ '

He sighed and nodded slowly, she had been keeping her distance from him since they'd discovered she'd been replaced with a clone made out of something called 'the Flesh' as she'd heard the whisperings of their enemies say. She'd just learned the substance she was made of earlier that very day and they'd been about to try and find somewhere that might tell them more about it, when a fuse had blown and she'd begun fixing it, moments before they'd gotten the Corsair's box. She felt like she wasn't real, she was doubting herself, how much of what she was saying and doing were being controlled by her and how much by their enemies. He saw her as a real person, as his Kata, but a version of her, she saw herself as entirely fake. And knowing that these enemies of theirs had led her to feel that way...he'd had to wander off into the TARDIS on numerous occasions to try and calm himself down, to keep himself from heading to the controls and hunting them down before they were ready, before they had a plan.

' _It's ok Kata,_ ' he whispered in her mind, standing slowly to kiss her forehead, ' _It'll be ok, I promise._ '

She nodded, resting her forehead against his. She knew how hard it was for him, for this distance to be between them, it killed her to put it there in the first place. They kissed and they flirted and they bantered, but she always tried to keep it from escalating, she didn't want to cheapen what they had. She'd lost control of herself in the junkyard and she knew it would lead to this, to him trying to convince her she was real, that he knew she was still the same person who had been taken, but until they knew more about this 'Flesh' she wouldn't trust herself, not with the Doctor's safety, not with his hearts.

' _Thank you Theta,_ ' she gave him a little kiss before standing and hugging him tightly, ' _And when all this is over, I'll make it up to you, and then some._ '

He chuckled a bit, ' _I look forward to it._ '

~8~

The Doctor stood up from behind the console, wiping his hands on a rag when he spotted the Professor sitting in the doorway of the TARDIS, looking out at the stars. He frowned, he was relatively sure that he'd calmed her down from their talk of her being real vs. a fake, so he knew that whatever had driven her to look at the stars must have been something different and even more troubling. He walked over to her, plopping down beside her to see she seemed lost in thought, not even realizing he was there till he nudged her.

She shook her head and looked over at him, "What's on your mind?" he asked.

"Flowers," she replied.

"Flowers?"

"The TARDIS said I was her flower," she explained, "And I thought about it, what each flower means and…she was right, I suppose."

He nodded, not quite sure what she was talking about, but then he noticed something else, just beside her were the Time Lord distress boxes, all ten from the planet plus the Corsair's, all on silent so as not to upset either of them.

"What should we do with these?" he asked, picking one up.

"Release them," she said, "These are their last thoughts, they should be free."

He nodded, watching as she picked up the Corsair's, "You know, the first flower she said was the begonia," he looked at her, waiting for her to continue, "It represents, deep thoughts."

He nodded, slowly understanding, that was exactly the epitome of her original self, always thinking, always learning and contemplating. She sighed and handed him the Corsair's box, which he opened, releasing the white lights of his thoughts into space.

She picked up another box, "The second flower was the cyprus cyclamen, cyprus means sorrow…"

He squeezed her hand, recalling her description of her second incarnation and his role in shaping that version of herself. She smiled at him and opened the box.

"The third?" he asked, picking up another box.

"Petunia," she recalled, "Anger and resentment," he released the thoughts and she picked up the fourth box, "Then there was the chimaphila, from the heather family, meaning solitude," she released the thoughts.

He hesitated picking up the next box, knowing what her next incarnation was. He took a breath and scooped up the fifth.

"Marigold. Pain and Grief."

He looked at her, solemn, only to see her smiling slightly. He frowned but she just put his hand on the box and nodded out the door. It took him a moment to realize that she wasn't just releasing the Time Lords to their peace, but metaphorically releasing her past incarnations as well.

He opened the box.

She smiled wider, picking up the sixth, "Hydrangea, frigidness and heartlessness," and opened it. He quickly scooped up the seventh, "Rue for regret," he opened it and she grabbed the eighth, "Foxtail amaranth, hopelessness," and released it. He nabbed the ninth, "Oleander, caution and fear," and opened it just as she grabbed the tenth, "Candytuft means indifference," and released it.

He scooped up the very last box but paused, seeing the raised fist insignia on the side, her father's box. He looked at her a moment and handed it to her slowly. She needed to be the one to do this box. She took a breath, taking it from him and looked down at the symbol.

"Freesia," she swallowed hard, "Spirited," he put a hand on her shoulder as her hand clenched the top of the box, "One I will  _never_  let him break again," she whispered before opening the box and letting the thoughts drift out to space.

She let out a breath and smiled, feeling lighter than she had in centuries.

The Doctor turned her head and kissed her deeply, sensing the same thing. She grinned into the kiss, unable to keep at it as she started laughing, pulling him into a hug as well.

Finally feeling  _free_.

"Come on," she beamed, hopping up and holding out a hand to help him up, "Let's see where our dear mother wants to take us next."

He laughed and they ran to the console. He quickly scanned it over with the sonic, just checking that everything was in working order, before leaning over, "Are you there? Can you hear us?" but there was nothing. He looked at the Professor to see her smile fade just a bit and shook his head, "No, we're just silly old…"

"Ok!" the Professor cut in, "The Eye of Orion or wherever we need to go."

Suddenly a lever pulled itself down, causing them to fall over onto the console for balance. They grinned at each other and laughed, dashing and dancing around the console as it took off.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to add that bit about the Professor's pretty kitties, since she's a cat lover and Rory's 'the pretty one' I thought it was fitting, even though Amy and Rory are both the Doctor and Professor's Companions he's more her Companion than the Doctor's.
> 
> I always thought of the TARDIS as being more of a mother to the Doctor than a wife. She's always there for him, protecting him, taking him where he needs to go to get closure or better himself, watching out for him and his Companions, and the fact that she's old enough to be his mother too. I imagine the 'sexy' comment to be more of a joking name now.
> 
> As for the flowers, I was trying to think of what the TARDIS would call the Professor since the Doctor was her thief and then I started thinking of the Pika blossoms that the Professor loved on Gallifrey. It got me thinking about flowers and their meanings. I used a bunch of different websites to find ones that would fit with the Professor's different incarnations, so some meanings might be slightly different than what the flowers typically represent.
> 
> I really wanted to add in a small scene between the Doctor and Professor about her being a Ganger and her feelings on it. It also sort of explains the Doctor's adamant insistence that the Gangers are real people too, he's been trying to convince the Professor of that all along. Which means...we're getting to the Gangers next, and then we all know what comes after that :)
> 
> So...who caught the line inspired by Irene? ^-^


	8. The Rebel Flesh

The Professor was standing by the railing, watching Amy and Rory play darts as the Doctor stood at the console, music playing over the speakers.

Rory threw his dart and Amy shook her head at him, "46. Rubbishy, rubbishy, rubbish."

"Hello, it's a double top," Rory countered.

"Wrong side of the wire, mister."

"You're…red…"

Amy laughed, "No, I'm not. Stop trying to put me off."

"Oi!" the Professor called as Amy moved to take her turn, "Can I play winner?"

"NO!" Amy and Rory shouted at once. It had only taken two throws of hers the last time they played her for them to realize they didn't stand a chance against the Time Lady, especially when both her darts landed bullseye and the second one had been with her eyes shut.

She laughed and shook her head, moving over to the Doctor's side as he wound an arm around her waist when she reached him, still looking at the pregnancy scan, the two of them growing serious once more. He looked at her a moment and she nodded, it was time, it had to be now. She'd been working on trying to feed back the signal to her Flesh body, giving her real self some time conscious. It had only managed to work for a few seconds at a time and the last attempt had allowed her to twitch her fingers just a bit, move her arm slightly towards Amy who had been lying beside her. She'd managed to brush her fingers against Amy's arm and had been startled at what she'd discovered, Amy was very nearly ready to give birth. It would literally be a matter of hours before the baby would be coming and they still knew almost nothing about the Flesh.

They'd used the TARDIS databanks to track down the history of the Flesh, of when it was used. The period that she and Amy appeared to be in was most certainly not one of the more advanced stages, however, it was nowhere near as crude as the Flesh-like clone that had taken Martha's place. It was still in the very early stages. They'd managed to get a blip on the TARDIS mainframe, a period in the Flesh's use that seemed identical to her and Amy and that was where they were headed now. They had to solve this as soon as possible, learn exactly how to end the signal to the Flesh without harming or causing pain to her or Amy. She could handle it, she knew, but it would be a terribly traumatic experience for Amy to go through a painful end like that. They didn't have any time left to try and save both her and Amy before the baby was born. But they could wake her up with Amy, it would give Amy a better chance at protecting her baby to have her there and awake. She would do her best to protect them both, but she'd have to be awake to do it.

He sighed, nodding, and turned the music off, "Who wants fish 'n' chips?" he called out. Rory raised his hand, "We'll drop you both off. Take your time. Don't rush."

"Uh, and you?" Rory frowned.

"We have things to do," the Professor shrugged.

"Things involving...other things…" the Doctor added. The Professor shook her head at his attempt to help.

"Well, we'll stay with you two," Amy decided, heading up the stairs with Rory, "We'll do the other things."

"Nope," the Doctor shook his head.

"Whatever you're up to, I, personally, would like to be a part of it," she scoffed, "What?"

Before they could answer the klaxon blared and the TARDIS bucked. Rory grabbed the railing and Amy the console for balance as the Doctor and Professor ran to the controls, trying to pilot.

"Solar Tsunami," the Professor called from the monitor, "Came directly from your sun."

"A tidal wave of radiation," the Doctor saw another gauge, "Big, big, big!"

"Oh," Rory moaned, "My tummy's going funny."

"Well, the gyros are dissipated," the Professor called, "Target tracking is out."

With a grunt, the Doctor threw a lever but it did nothing. He looked at it, alarmed, before shouting, "Assume the position!"

With a yell, Amy ran and sat on the jump seat, hunching over, her head between her legs, her hands over her head. Rory dropped to the floor, covering his head as well, while the Professor and Doctor crouched beside the console, bracing themselves.

The TARDIS jolted to a sudden stop and Amy and Rory looked up, panting. The Doctor and Professor jumped up, the Doctor beaming as he proclaimed, "Textbook landing."

The Professor eyed him a moment, "How would you know? You threw the textbook into a supernova!"

He just rolled his eyes playfully at her and took her hand, pulling her to the door. They stepped out and looked around at the weathervane on the top of a spire sticking out of an old, nearly ruin-like monastery.

"Behold!" the Doctor grinned, "A cockerel. Love a cockerel. And, underneath, a monastery, 13th century."

"Oh, we've gone all medieval," Amy looked around as she stepped out.

"I'm not sure about that," Rory remarked.

"Really? Medieval expert, are you?"

"No, it's just that I can hear Dusty Springfield."

"'You Don't Have to Say You Love Me,'" the Professor nodded, hearing the song playing in the distance.

"But I most certainly do," the Doctor pulled her to him and gave her a quick kiss, "I love you."

She smiled at him, "I love you too," she took his hand and they walked towards a small stairway, pausing when they came across a hole in the ground with an exposed pipe in it.

The Doctor frowned, crouching down as he looked at it, "These fissures are new."

"The Solar Tsunami sent out a huge wave of gamma particles," she nodded, "This was caused by a magnetic quake that occurred just before the wave hit."

"Well, the monastery's standing," Amy commented.

The Doctor pulled a snow globe from his pocket and shook hit, "Yeah, for now," he studied the globe a moment and put it away.

"Doctor, look," Rory pointed to the words on the pipe, 'Danger Corrosive.'

"Ah, it's a supply pipe," he nodded, glancing at the Professor who shook her head. She couldn't touch it, most corrosive materials ran quite hot, and even then...it appeared the Flesh didn't allow her to utilize her scanning abilities as it wasn't her true skin coming in contact with the materials around her. She could still assess things using her other senses, but touch seemed to be off the table. He pulled out the sonic and scanned it, "Ceramic inner lining. Something corrosive. They're pumping something nasty off this island to the mainland."

"My mum's a massive fan of Dusty Springfield."

"Who isn't? Right, let's go. Satisfy our rabid curiosity," he held out a hand to the Professor and they walked off towards the wooden stairs, the humans behind them.

They stepped past the wall to the monastery courtyard, looking around at the buildings, mostly in ruins, but with a large portion seemingly sound and habitable.

"So, where are these Dusty Springfield-loving monks, then?" Amy asked.

The Doctor scanned the area with the sonic, turning to the Professor, "I think we're here. This is it."

She took a breath and nodded, this was one adventure she had mixed feelings about. She didn't like not knowing things, but then again, she wasn't sure how much she really wanted to know about the Flesh and how it worked at its current stage. She didn't want to know exaclty how not real she was.

' _I've told you a hundred times,_ ' the Doctor whispered in her mind, ' _You ARE real._ '

She could only smile sadly at him. Until they knew more about the Flesh neither of them could claim to be right.

"Doctor, what are you talking about?" Rory shook his head, "We've never been here before," the Doctor and Professor just climbed another set of steps, "We came here by accident."

"'Accident?'" the Doctor nearly scoffed but the Professor elbowed him in the side, "Yes, I know. Accident."

Rory reached out and touched another one of the pipes running along the stairs but pulled away sharply, burned, "Ah! Ow!"

"Acid," the Professor nodded, having guessed as much, "They're pumping acid off this island."

"That's old stuff," the Doctor gestured at the pipe, "Fresh acid? You wouldn't have a finger," they turned and walked through another wall as Amy looked at Rory's hand.

"Intruder alert!" a warning system blared, "Intruder alert!"

The Doctor and Professor dashed back, "There are people coming," he warned, "Well, almost."

"Almost coming?" Amy looked up.

"Almost people," the Professor corrected before they headed off.

"I think we should probably go," Rory called as Amy moved to follow them.

"Come on!" Amy ushered him.

He sighed, "I'm telling you, when something runs towards you, it's never for a nice reason."

Amy just rolled her eyes and grabbed his arm, dragging him along.

~8~

The Doctor, Professor, Amy, and Rory ran into a room, stopping short when they spotted human shaped harnesses in the window alcoves, all but one occupied by people in orange jumpsuits.

"What are all these harnesses for?" Amy asked.

"Uh, the almost people?" Rory guessed.

"What are they, prisoners? Or are they meditating, or what?"

"At the moment," the Professor shrugged, "The 'or what' category."

"Halt and remain calm," the computer ordered.

"Well, we've halted," the Doctor looked around, "How are we all doing on the 'calm' front?"

Just then three people ran into the room behind them, a young man, an older man, and a young woman, the men carrying lances pointed at them. The Doctor quickly grabbed the Professor's arm so she wouldn't go for her blaster.

"Don't...move!" the older man ordered.

"Stay back, Jen," the young man ushered the woman, "We don't know who they are."

"So let's ask them," Jen reasoned, "Who the hell are you?"

"Well, I'm the Doctor, she's the Professor, and this is Amy and Rory and it's all very nice, isn't it?" the Doctor introduced.

Amy looked back and forth between the people before them and the ones in the harnesses, seeing the same men, "Hold up. You're all…what are you all, like, identical twins?"

Another young man and an older woman in dark brown, armor-like suits ran in from another doorway. The older woman stepped forward, clearly in charge, as she addressed them, "This is an Alpha grade industrial facility. Unless you work for the military or for Morpeth Jetson, you are in big trouble."

"Actually,  _you're_  in big trouble," the Doctor held up the psychic paper to her.

"Meteorological department, since when?"

"Since you were hit by a solar wave," the Professor stepped beside him.

"Which we survived."

"Just, by the look of it," she glanced around.

"And there's a bigger one on the way," the Doctor warned.

"Which we'll also survive," the woman replied, "Dicken, scan for bugs."

The young, armored man beside her held up a scanner, "Backs against the wall. Now."

They slowly backed up to the wall, holding their hands up.

"You're not a monastery," the Professor ascertained, "You're a factory. 22nd century, army-owned factory."

"You're army?" Amy gaped.

"No, love, we're contractors and you're trespassers," the woman remarked.

"It's okay, boss," Dicken finished scanning.

"Alright, weathermen, your I.D. checks out," the woman glanced at them, "If there's another solar storm, what are you going to do about it, hand out sun block?"

The Doctor gave a fake laugh, "Ha, ha, ha, ha. We need to see your critical systems."

"Which one?"

"You know which one," the Professor looked her in the eye.

~8~

They entered a room with a large vat on a raise platform at the back of it. In front of it was an open tub the size of a person. The Doctor walked around to the opposite side of the vat with the Professor, looking down at the white bubbling liquid inside.

"And there you are," the Doctor muttered.

' _So that's what I am,_ ' the Professor eyed it as the Doctor squeezed her hand.

"Meet the government's worst kept secret, the Flesh," the captain, Cleaves they'd learned, said, "It's fully programmable matter. In fact, it's even learning to replicate itself at the cellular level."

"Right," Amy nodded, "Brilliant. Lost."

"Okay. Once a reading's been taken, we can manipulate its molecular structure into anything, replicate a living organism, down to the hairs on its chinny-chin-chin. Even clothes, and everything's identical…eyes, voice."

"Mind, soul," the Doctor added, squeezing the Professor's hand again as he heard her sigh and shake her head.

"Don't be fooled, Doctor. It acts like life, but it still needs to be controlled by us from those harnesses you saw."

"Wait, whoa, hold it," Rory frowned, "So...you're Flesh now?"

"I'm lying in a harness back in that chamber. We all are, except Jennifer here. Don't be scared. This thing? Just like operating a forklift truck."

"You said it could  _grow_ ," the Doctor countered, "Only  _living things_  grow."

"Doctor," the Professor sighed, frowning.

"Moss grows," Ganger Cleaves remarked dryly, "It's no more than that. This acid is so dangerous we were losing a worker every week. So now, we mine the acid using these doppelgangers, or 'gangers.' If these bodies get burnt or fall in the acid..."

"Then who the hell cares?" the young male Ganger asked, "Right, Jen?"

"Well, the nerve endings automatically cut off, like airbags being discharged, except we wake up and get a new Ganger," Jen ignored him.

"It's weird," the older male Ganger agreed, "But you get used to it."

"Jennifer, I want you in your Ganger," Ganger Cleaves ordered, "Get back to the harness."

The Doctor pulled out the sonic and scanned the Flesh as Jen left.

"Hang on," the young male Ganger called, "What's he up to? What are you up to, pal?"

The Doctor struggled a bit, trying to move his arm, "Stop it. Ah!" he yanked back, looking at it, startled, before turning to the Professor, "Strange. It was like, for a moment there, it was scanning me," he turned and put the sonic in his pocket, reaching out to touch his hand to the top of the liquid.

"Doctor…" Ganger Cleaves warned.

"Ah!" his hand shook as he tried to pull away but couldn't.

"Get back, Doctor. Leave it alone!"

"Ah! Ah! Ah! Gah!" the Professor reached out and pulled him back. He gasped, looking at her, stunned, "I understand," he gave her a little smile, brushing a lock of hair behind her ears, "I was  _right_."

"Doctor, are you alright?" Amy asked.

"Incredible," he turned to Amy, "You have no idea. No idea. I mean…" he looked at the Professor again, "I felt it in my mind. I reached out to it and it, to me."

"Don't fiddle with the money, Doctor," Ganger Cleaves rolled her eyes.

"How can you be so blinkered?" he turned to glare at her, "It's alive, so alive. You're piling your lives, your personalities, directly into it…"

Lightning crashed outside and the Doctor pulled out the snow globe again as the ground shook.

"It's the solar storm," the Professor looked around, shaking her head, unsure how to feel with all the information the Doctor was silently sending her about what he felt. She had to admit though, she felt just a small bit better, a bit more real, but now was not the time to think on that, they could study the Flesh more once the storm had passed, "The first waves come in pairs, pre-shock and full shock, it's close."

"Buzz, have we got anything from the mainland yet?" Ganger Cleaves turned to the young male Ganger.

"No," Ganger Buzz shook his head, "The comms. are still too jammed with radiation."

"Okay, then we'll keep pumping acid until the mainland says stop. Now, why don't you stand back and let us impress you."

She stepped back and they watched the tub start to fill with Flesh, lines and a face forming in it, then the eyes. It started to condense, into a human shape, and then Jennifer was there, in her orange jumpsuit, though her face wasn't fully-formed yet. She sat up with a gasp and was herself, completely.

"Well, I can see why you keep it in a church," the Doctor remarked, "The miracle of life."

"No need to get poncey," Ganger Buzz remarked, "It's just gunge."

The Doctor glared at him and subtly wound his arm around the Professor's waist, holding her close.

"Guys, we need to get to work," Ganger Cleaves reminded them.

"Okay, everybody," the older male Ganger nodded, "Let's crack on," he reached out and helped Ganger Jen out of the tub.

"Did we mention the solar storm?" the Doctor remarked.

"You need to get out of here," the Professor nodded.

"Well, where do you want us to go?" the older male Ganger countered, "We're on a tiny island."

"Well, we can get you all off it," the Doctor replied.

"Don't be ridiculous," Ganger Cleaves scoffed, "We've got a job to do."

"It's coming," the Professor told her just as an alarm blared.

"That's the alarm," Ganger Jen looked up.

The Professor turned to the crew, "How do you get power?"

"We're solar and we use a solar router," Ganger Cleaves replied, "The weather vane."

"Big problem," the Doctor sighed.

"Boss, maybe if the storm comes back, we should get underground," the older male Ganger remarked, "The factory's seen better days. The acid pipes might not withstand another hit."

"We have 200 tons of acid to pump out Jimmy," Ganger Cleaves shook her head, "We fall behind, we stay another rotation. Anyone want that?"

"Please," the Doctor grabbed the woman's arm and pulled her aside, "You are making a massive mistake here. You're right at the crossroads of it. Don't turn the wrong way. If you don't…if you don't prepare for this storm, you are all in terrible danger, understand?"

He had an idea of what such a storm could do to the Gangers with a weather vane connecting power directly to the harnesses. He knew, with the advanced mind of a Time Lord, a Ganger would approach this it all logically, have an easier time adapting to what was coming, to realizing it was a Ganger, like the Professor had, but humans...humans scared too easily and fear always bred savagery.

"My factory, my rules," she pulled her arm away and walked off.

The Professor walked over to him, "We need to check the progress of the storm."

He nodded and snapped his fingers at Ganger Jen, "Monitoring station," she hesitated so he snapped them again, "Monitoring station!"

"Three lefts, a right, and a left," Ganger Jen replied, "Third door on your left."

"Thank you," he nodded and left with the Professor, Amy and Rory following.

~8~

They entered the monitoring station just as the room shook from the storm outside. In the center of the room was a circular bank of instruments.

"The wave's disturbing the Earth's magnetic field," the Professor frowned.

"There is going to be the mother and father of all power surges," the Doctor nodded before pointing up, "You see this weather vane, the cock-a-doodle-doo?"

"It's a solar router, feeding the whole factory with solar power."

"When that wave hits, kaboom. We've got to get to that cockerel before all hell breaks loose," he headed for the door with the Professor but stopped and chuckled, looking at her, "I never thought I'd have to say that again."

"Amy?" the Professor looked back, "Breathe."

"Yeah!" she called as they left, before frowning in confusion, "I mean, thanks, I'll try?"

~8~

The Doctor and Professor ran across the roof and to the tower where the solar router was sitting. They quickly climbed up the ladder outside it, the Doctor swinging to the right to stand on a rung as the Professor climbed up to stand beside him to the left. He pulled off the lid to the power box with a grunt. The Professor held out the sonic for him, having taken it so he wouldn't have to dig in his pockets.

He'd just taken it when lightning struck the tower, knocking them both off it and down to the roof.

~8~

The Doctor came to with a gasp, sitting up quickly to see the top of the vane gone before looking to the side to see the Professor on her side, knocked out. He quickly shook her, waking her up gently. She blinked a moment before sitting up and looking at the vane as well.

"Oh, this is not good," she breathed, shaking her head.

"Tell me about it," the Doctor countered, helping her up.

~8~

The Doctor and Professor ran down the stairs from the roof to see Cleaves standing there, bewildered.

"Cleaves, you're not in your harness!" the Doctor shouted.

"I'm sorry, Doctor. You were right."

"You've lost all power to the factory," the Professor replied, having quickly assessed the damage to the building.

Cleaves shook her head, guilty, "I abandoned my team."

"Then let's go get them," the Doctor determined, leading the way back into the settlement.

"How long would you say we were unconscious for, Captain?" the Professor asked as they reached the tunnels.

"Not long," she shrugged, "A minute, two minutes."

"I'd hazard we've been out a teensy bit longer," the Doctor remarked

"Well, how long?"

"An hour," the Professor replied.

The Doctor let out an apprehensive breath, "We've seen whole worlds turned inside out in an hour. A lot can go wrong in an hour."

They ran up a set of stairs and into the harness room to see Amy checking on Buzz, Dicken, and Jimmy while Rory comforted a very upset and trembling Jennifer.

"Doctor, Professor, look," Amy called, "These are all real people. So where are their Gangers?"

"Don't worry," Cleaves waved her off, "When the link shuts down, the Gangers return to pure Flesh. Now, the storm's left us with acid leaks all over, so we need to contact the mainland. They can have a rescue shuttle out here in no time."

"Anyone else hear that?" the Professor asked. They quieted down, hearing Dusty Springfield playing softly.

"That's my record," Jimmy looked startled, "Who's playing my record?"

"Your Gangers," the Doctor said, "They've gone for a walkabout."

"No, it's impossible," Cleaves shook her head, "They're not active. Cars don't fly themselves, cranes don't lift themselves, and Gangers don't…" she trailed off, the music still playing.

~8~

The group entered the dining hall slowly, cautiously. Amy and Rory had to admit they were mildly surprised when the Professor didn't pull out her blaster and try to check the area out first. The crew walked over to a table, seeing the record playing on the turntable as they entered.

"No way…" Buzz breathed.

"I don't…I don't believe this," Cleaves shook her head.

"They could've escaped through the service door in the back," Jimmy remarked.

"This is just like the Isle of Sheppey," Buzz said.

The Doctor moved to sit at the table, looking at a house of cards stacked before him.

"It would seem the storm has animated your Gangers," the Professor remarked, in thought. She knew the Doctor would try to convince her that she, the Flesh version of herself, was real...it appeared nature had given him even more ammunition than he'd originally hoped for.

"They've ransacked everything," Cleaves frowned.

"Not ransacked, searched," the Doctor corrected.

"Through our stuff?"

"Their stuff."

"Searching for what?" Jimmy asked.

"Confirmation," the Professor murmured, empathizing, "They need to know their memories are real."

"Oh, so they've got flaming memories now," Buzz glared at the cards.

"They feel compelled to connect to their lives."

"Their stolen lives," Cleaves remarked.

"No, bequeathed," the Doctor looked at her, "You gave them this. You poured in your personalities, emotions, traits, memories, secrets, everything. You gave them your lives. Human lives are amazing. Are you surprised they walked off with them?"

"I'll say it again, Isle of Sheppey," Buzz repeated, "Ganger got an electric shock, toddled off, killed his operator, right there in his harness. I've seen the photos. This bloke's ear was…"

"Even if this has actually happened, they can't remain stable without us plumbed into them, can they, boss?" Jimmy looked at Cleaves.

"I guess we'll find out," she remarked.

Jennifer gasped at Rory's side and he turned to her, concerned, "Are you okay? Do you need some water?"

"I feel funny," she looked a bit sick, "I need the washroom."

She turned and ran out of the room, Rory following after, "I'll come with you."

Dicken suddenly sneezed, "Sorry."

The Doctor leaned forward and looked at the house of cards.

"That's me," Buzz pointed, "It's good to have a hobby. So, what, my Ganger did that, all on its own?"

"Who taught you to do this?" the Doctor asked.

"Me granddad."

"Well, your Ganger's granddad taught him to do it, too."

The Professor nodded, "You both have the same childhood memories, just as clear..." she sighed, "Just as real."

"No," Buzz knocked the cards down.

"They're scared and disorientated," the Professor looked around at the humans, "Struggling to come to terms with an  _entire life_  in their heads."

The Doctor got up and walked over to her, giving her a kiss to her temple. He hadn't been there when the memories had hit her, having been 'captured' by Canton at the time. And he regretted it so much once she'd spoken to him about it. It was so much worse for her, to have to come to terms with 11 lives in her head as opposed to a human's one. It had taken a longer while before the memories began to plague her, it appeared to take the Flesh longer to settle for Time Lords than humans.

She gave him a little smile and he stepped past her to examine a microwave set up a few feet away as the others looked at each other from the Professor's words.

"We need to protect ourselves," Jimmy remarked.

"Are you a violent man, Jimmy?" the Doctor asked as he put a small plate of food in the microwave.

"No."

"Then why would the other Jimmy be?"

If anyone thought it odd that he'd stared at the Professor even as he spoke to Jimmy, they didn't say. She knew what he was trying to do, emphasize the fact that they were the same person despite one being Flesh.

"Don't tell me you can eat at a time like this, Doctor," Cleaves eyed him.

"You told us that we were out cold for a few minutes, Cleaves, when, in fact, it was an hour."

"Sorry, I just assumed…"

"Well, it's not your fault. Like the Professor said, they're disorientated."

"Amy, when you got to the alcoves, who was in harnesses?" the Professor asked her as the time on the microwave went off and the Doctor pulled out the plate, using a towel as a pot holder.

"Um, Jimmy and Dicken were helping Buzzer out," Amy recalled.

"Jennifer?"

"She was standing on her own when we got to her."

The Doctor turned and handed the plate to Cleaves. She held it in her bare hand, unflinching.

"It's hot," he told her a moment later, smiling sadly at the familiar situation.

She hissed and dropped the plate which shattered on the floor, "Ah."

"The transmatter's still a little rubbery," the Professor remarked as she looked at Cleaves's hand, "The nerve endings are not quite fused properly."

She'd discovered it was mostly in the fingers and toes that the nerve endings remained rubbery, dulling the pain receptors there but nowhere else. It had been one of the reasons the Doctor hadn't just ended the signal to her and let her loose on those who had taken her and Amy as she had suggested once, he didn't want to cause her, even a fake her, any pain at all and from what they had seen of Martha's clone, it  _would_  be painful if he wasn't careful. He wanted to find a more humane way to block the signal, quickly and painlessly.

Ganger Cleaves pulled her hand away, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"It's okay," the Doctor tried to reassure her.

"Why didn't I feel that?"

"You might," the Professor told her, "Once you stabilize more and..."

"No, stop it. You're playing stupid games. Stop it!" she turned her back to them, upset.

The Doctor slowly approached her, "You don't have to hide. Please, trust me. I'm the Doctor."

Ganger Cleaves turned around and hissed at him, her face half-formed. Buzzer grabbed a knife from the table and headed towards her but Jimmy held him back.

"Where's the real Cleaves, you thing?" Buzzer shouted, glaring, the Professor flinching at his words, "What have you done with her?"

"That's it, good," the Doctor continued to encourage Ganger Cleaves, "You remember."

"This is early Flesh, the early stages of the technology," the Professor reached out slowly and took the woman's hand, "So much to learn."

"Professor, what's happened to her?" Amy asked.

"She can't stabilize, she's shifting between half-formed and full-formed. For now, at least."

"We are  _living_!" Ganger Cleaves shouted, lunging at the Professor with a growl, but the Professor was too fast and sidestepped, making the woman stumble. She growled at them and ran from the room with a cry.

"Let her go," the Doctor called.

"Rory!" Amy gasped.

"Rory?" the Doctor frowned.

Amy turned around and threw her arms up, "Rory!"

"Oh no Rory!" the Professor caught on, he was now currently out there with what was most likely an unstable Ganger Jen.

"Always with the Rory!" the Doctor shook his head, before running out with Amy, the Professor, and Jimmy. They ran down a few tunnels and out of one of the buildings, only to find their way blocked by acid leaking from the pipes and onto the ground.

"The explosion must've ruptured the acid feeds," Jimmy remarked, "We're going to need the acid suits."

"No, no, no, we haven't got time," the Doctor turned, ushering them back, "Back, back, back."

They ran down a few more tunnels, taking the long way around to the washroom Ganger Jen had run off to before. They paused, seeing a hole in a stall door.

"Rory!" Amy shouted.

The Professor looked down at a bit of white in the sink and sighed, "Jennifer's a Ganger, too."

Amy whirled on them, "You said they wouldn't be violent!"

"But I did say they were scared, and angry."

"And early technology, is what you said," Jimmy nodded, frowning at her and the Doctor, "You seem to know something about the Flesh."

"Do you?" Amy eyed them, "Doctor? Professor?"

"You're no weathermen. Why are you really here?"

"We have to talk to them," the Professor turned to the Doctor, ignoring them.

"We can fix this," the Doctor agreed and they ran from the room, Amy following.

"Wait!" Jimmy shouted, dashing off after them, "What's going on? Where's the real Jennifer?" he caught up with them in the tunnels just as they reached the top of a set of stairs and headed down another. They pulled back as steam burst from a pipe, acid on the ground as well.

"It is too dangerous out here with acid leaks," the Professor muttered.

"We have to find Rory," Amy insisted.

"Yes," the Doctor agreed with them both, before turning to Amy, "We're going back to the TARDIS."

"Wait for us in the dining hall," the Professor added.

"We want you to keep together, okay? No more wandering off."

"And what about Rory?" Amy asked.

"It would be safer to look for Rory and Jennifer with the TARDIS," the Professor told her.

Jimmy turned, spotting a box on the wall, "Here we go," he opened it and pulled out a large canister, "Distress flares," he closed the box and turned to see the Doctor and Professor right behind him.

"Exit?" the Doctor asked.

"Keep going straight, can't miss it. But you're never going to get your vehicle in here."

"I'm a great parker."

The Professor scoffed, following after him, "With your luck you've managed to park her in acid!"

~8~

The Professor peeked through a doorway before nodding and stepping into the Flesh storage room, allowing the Doctor in after her. She stood by the door, keeping an eye out to the hall as he walked over to the vat. He took the sonic and flashed the Flesh once more, making the liquid bubble before he turned and dashed away, grabbing the Professor's hand and pulling her out with him, his job done.

He was going to prove to her, one way or the other, that the Flesh versions were just as real, all the while learning more about them.

~8~

They ran out of the monastery, the Professor stopping on the stairs and looking down as the Doctor ran out onto the grass, only to see the TARDIS nearly completely sunk into the earth, acid fizzing around her.

"Oh," the Doctor sighed, "What are you doing down there? Really!"

He began to reach into his pocket for the sonic when he realized something…he was currently standing in a puddle of acid which was eating way at his boots. He quickly shuffled out of them and leapt back onto the bottom stair.

"A great parker, eh?" the Professor asked with a little laugh.

He pointed at her like he was going to say something but then just walked past her, back to the monastery.

~8~

The duo walked through the tunnels of the monastery and ambled into the acid storage room. They looked down, seeing the acid suits, the brown armor-like clothing, lying beside the vat and then to the half-formed Gangers standing beside it.

"Hello," the Doctor grinned, "How are we all getting on?"

"Why don't  _you_  tell  _us_?" Ganger Cleaves glared.

"Look," the Professor cut in, "We have two choices here."

"The first is to tear each other apart," the Doctor nodded, "Not my favorite by the way."

"The second is to knuckle down and work together."

"Try to work out how best we can help you."

~8~

The Doctor and Professor led the Gangers out of the acid room, all of whom were now fully-formed, "Now, I know it's hard for you to hold your fully human form," the Doctor was rambling, his hand in the Professor's, "That's why you keep shifting between the Flesh stages, but do try."

"It'll make the others less scared of you," the Professor added, "Fear generates savagery, you know."

~8~

"Okay," they could hear Amy speak as they neared the dining hall, "Let's not do anything at all…"

"Until the Doctor and Professor get here," Amy, the Doctor, and the Professor said at once.

"Hello!" the Doctor waved as they entered with the four other Gangers behind them to see Rory had returned with who they assumed to be Ganger Jen.

"This is…" Jimmy began, looking at his Ganger.

"You're telling me," Ganger Jimmy agreed.

"Alright, Doctor, Professor," Ganger Cleaves turned to them, "You've brought us together, now what?"

"Before we do anything," the Doctor began, "I have one very important question…has anybody got a pair of shoes I could borrow? Size 10. Although I should warn you, quite unlike my lovely wife here with her little dainty feet," he shot her a smile, "I have very wide feet."

The Professor blinked and looked down, "You think I have dainty feet?"

He leaned closer to her and nuzzled the side of her face, "I think you have dainty everything," he closed his eyes and rested his forehead to her temple, "You're just very dainty. Dainty and tempting."

She smiled a bit, "I thought I was a tease," she nudged him, pushing him back just a bit.

"That too," he gazed at her softly, reaching out to brush a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Are they seriously flirting right now?" Ganger Dicken asked no one in particular.

Amy sighed, "You haven't seen the worst of it."

"Oi!" the Doctor gave her a mock glare.

But the Professor just laughed, "She's right," she patted him on the shoulder as he pouted, whether from her taking Amy's side or the fact that Dicken had interrupted their flirting, she wasn't sure.

~8~

The Doctor was sitting on the edge of the dining room table, now wearing brown boots while the Professor stood beside him. Amy was behind them while the Originals stood to one side of the room and the Gangers and Rory on the other.

"The Flesh was never merely moss," the Professor told them, conceding the point.

"These are not copies," the Doctor agreed, absolutely beaming to have gotten her to admit as much.

"The storm has hardwired them."

"They are becoming people."

"With souls?" Jimmy asked.

"Rubbish," Dicken scoffed before sneezing.

"Bless you," his Ganger called. Ganger Cleaves glared at him, "What?"

"We were all jelly, once," the Doctor continued, "Little jelly eggs, sitting in goop."

"Yeah, thanks," Amy grimaced, "Too much information."

"We are not talking about an accident that needs to be mopped up," he looked at the Professor, "We are talking about sacred life. Do you understand?" he eyed her. She didn't agree, but she didn't disagree, he smiled again, "Good."

She shook her head at him, a small smile on her face at how hard he was fighting to get her to believe she was more real than she thought she was, before turning back to the others, "Now, the TARDIS is parked in an acid pool…"

"Trapped," the Doctor corrected, "I didn't  _park_  her in an acid pool," Amy and Rory looked at him, "I didn't!"

"Once we can reach her," the Professor continued, ignoring him, "We can get you all off this island, humans and Gangers."

"How does that sound?"

"Can we get home for Adam's birthday?" Jimmy asked.

"What about me?" Ganger Jimmy looked at him, "He's my son too."

" _You?_  You  _really_  think that?"

"I feel it."

"Oh, so you were there when he was born, were you?"

"Yeah. I drank about eight pints of tea and they told me I had a wee boy and I just burst out laughing," he laughed, "No idea why. I miss home. As much as you."

"Look," the Doctor cut in, "We're not going to lie to you. It's a right odd mess, this. But, as you might say up north, 'oh, well, I'll just go to t' foot of the stairs.' Ha, ha, ha. Eh, by by gum…" everyone just stared at him, "Or not. Good. Right."

"The first step is to get everyone together," the Professor took over, "Then get everyone safe, then get everyone out of here."

"But we're still missing Jennifer and Cleaves," Amy reminded them.

"I'll go and look for them," Jimmy offered, heading for the door.

"I'll give you a hand, if you like," his Ganger joined him, "Cover more ground."

"Yeah. Okay. Thanks."

Everyone smiled watching both Jimmys get along when suddenly the Professor pulled out her blaster and turned to face behind her.

"Put it down Cleaves," she threatened, holding the blaster ready.

Everyone spun around to see Cleaves holding a device crackling with electricity in her hands, "This circus has gone on long enough!"

"Oh, great," her Ganger sighed, "You see, that is just so typically me."

"Doctor, tell  _it_  to shut up _._ "

"Please, no," the Doctor stepped forward, gently putting his hand on the Professor's arm to lower her blaster, not wanting any violence. It was one thing to pull it on a hostile alien trying to kill them, but this was just a scared human, "No! No!"

"Circuit probe. Fires about, oh, 40,000 volts. It would kill any one of us, so I guess she'll work on Gangers, just the same."

"It's interesting you refer to them as 'it,' but you call a glorified cattle prod a 'she,'" the Professor commented, lowering her blaster nonetheless, finding herself getting slightly miffed at the Gangers being called 'it.' Perhaps the Doctor's attempts were starting to work after all...

"When the real people are safely off this island, then I'll happily talk philosophy over a pint with you."

"What are you going to do to them?" Amy frowned, eyeing the woman.

"Sorry, they're monsters, mistakes. They have to be destroyed."

"Give me the probe, Cleaves," the Professor stepped forward.

"We always have to take charge, don't we, Miranda?" her Ganger asked, "Even when we don't really know what the hell is going on."

Ganger Buzzer suddenly charged at Cleaves and she fired at him three times. He fell to the ground and didn't get back up. The Doctor ran over to him, kneeling beside him.

"Stop!" he shouted, "Oh! Ah! He's dead!"

"We call it 'decommissioned,'" Cleaves glared, moving the probe towards Ganger Jen who gasped and ducked away.

"You stopped his heart! He had a heart! Aorta, valves, a real, human heart! And you stopped it."

"Jen?" Rory tried to look back at Jen as she hid behind him.

"What happened to Buzz will happen to us all if we trust you!" Ganger Jen shouted.

The Doctor stood up, "Wait, wait. Just wait."

Rory looked over, seeing Cleaves about to fire at Jen and ran at her, "No!" he knocked her to the ground and grabbed the probe away from her.

The Gangers ran out of the room in the chaos that followed.

"You idiot!" Cleaves glared at Rory.

"Wait!" the Doctor called out at the Gangers, but it was too late.

"Look at what you've done, Cleaves," the Professor shook her head at the woman.

"If it's war, then it's war," Cleaves glared at her, "You don't get it. How can you? It's us and them now," she looked at her crew, "Us...and them."

"Us and them," Dicken agreed.

Jimmy sighed but nodded, "Us and them."

The Doctor sighed and looked at the Professor, both of them unhappy at the turn of events.

~8~

The Doctor and Professor looked around the room, Amy and Rory having a quiet conversation as they covered Ganger Buzzer's body, while Cleaves and her crew also had their own conversion as well.

"The most fortified and defendable room in the monastery?" the Professor called suddenly, both she and the Doctor knowing retaliation was inevitable and drawing closer, "Cleaves! What is the most fortified and defendable room in the monastery?"

"The chapel," she replied.

"Strengths?"

"Only one way in, stone walls, two feet thick."

She nodded, "It'll have to do."

The Doctor looked over at Cleaves, "You've crossed one hell of a line, Cleaves. You've killed one of them. They're coming back. In a big way. Come on!" he dashed from the room with the others, all of them heading for the chapel.

"What about the flares?" Jimmy called.

"We'll worry about the flares when we're locked inside," the Doctor replied as they reached the doorway, ushering them in. The humans ran in, leaving the Doctor, Professor, Amy, and Rory outside, "Rory Pond."

Rory hesitated, hearing Jennifer scream in the distance.

"Rory?" Amy turned to him, "Come on."

"Jen's out there," he shook his head, relating entirely too well to how it felt to wake up and realize you weren't real, "She's out there and she's on her own," he turned and headed back down the tunnel.

"Well, if she's got any sense, then she's hiding," the Doctor called, "Rory!"

"I can't leave her out there! I know you understand that."

"Get in here!" Amy yelled, "Get in here!"

The Gangers arrived at the end of the hall and Rory dashed off through a side corridor.

"There they are!" Cleaves gasped.

"Amy," the Professor grabbed her by the arm and pulled her, struggling, through the doorway.

"Rory!" Amy shouted as the Doctor slammed the door shut behind them and soniced it shut.

The Professor pulled her more into the room, letting the crew try and block the door with what little they could find, "Amy, they are not after him, they are after  _us_."

"Why?" a voice whispered from the back of the room, "Why?"

The Doctor stiffened and turned to the shadows, "Show yourself. Show yourself!"

"Ah!" it groaned.

The Doctor and Professor exchanged a look and approached the shadowed corner.

"Doctor!" Amy gasped, "Professor!"

"Pass me the barrel," Cleaves ordered.

"We need something heavy," Dicken called, "Anything you can find."

Amy glanced at them but turned back to watch the Doctor and Professor.

Jimmy laughed a bit, "This is insane. We're fighting ourselves."

"Yes," the Doctor agreed, "It's insane and it's about to get even more insanerer," he glanced at the Professor, "Is that a word?" before turning back to the shadows, "Show yourself! Right now!"

"Doctor!" Amy shouted, "We are trapped in here and Rory is out there, with them. Hello! We can't get to the TARDIS and we can't even leave the island."

The Doctor opened his mouth to speak but another voice answered in his voice, "Correct in every respect, Pond. It's frightening, unexpected, frankly a total, utter, splattering mess on the carpet, but I'm certain, 100 percent certain, that we can work this out,"

And then, from the shadows, emerged a half-formed Ganger of the Doctor.

"Trust me," he tugged his bow tie, "I'm the Doctor."

To be continued…

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lol, the Doctor 'parked' in a puddle of acid and yay(!) the Professor's starting to come around to the idea that she's real :) Just have to say, I nearly died writing the next chapter, having two Doctors running around and only one Professor to keep up with them.
> 
> Just wanted to clear up, when it comes to the Professor's father and how he ended up on House, in Fear Her the Professor and the Doctor mention they had gone to her house on Gallifrey for a visit (confrontation) and discovered that some time during the Professor's first 200 years at the Academy her father had been sent off world on some sort of mission and just never came back, no one knew what happened to him. Well...now they do. I think he got what he deserved, mostly...I think he also deserved to face the Doctor first...but he definitely got his comeuppance in the end.
> 
> And, the BBC's Sherlock, Irene inspired line was when the Professor says "Or so help me I will push you against those crates over there and have my wicked way with you until you literally beg for mercy...twice" as Irene says to Sherlock "I would have you right here, on this desk, until you begged for mercy twice."
> 
> One more really quick note I've also branched out into rewriting Series 1 with a twist that the Doctor doesn't return to tell Rose that the box also travels in time, but heads off where eventually he saves the Professor from the Krillitanes early, an AU Professor storyline. Given how scarred the Doctor is from the war, how 'dark' he is, and how protective I can imagine him getting over a frightened little Professor...I'd imagine the 9th Doctor to be far more possessive/protective (having come from the war and we all know why he Time Locked the planet) and also, for some reason, more intimate (at times he struck me as more of an instinct/passion/emotion driven version of the Doctor...)...it would be interesting to see :) It won't be up till the main series is caught up to what I have written/posted on FF.net though ;)


	9. The Almost People

The Ganger Doctor screamed and twisted, his face fully-formed, grabbing his head in pain, "What's happening? I wonder if we'll get back. Yes, one day...argh! I've reversed the polarity of the neutron flow…"

"The Flesh is struggling to cope with your past regenerations," the Professor told the Doctor as they looked on.

"Hold on!" the Doctor shouted to himself.

The Ganger Doctor jerkily held out his hand, his voice assuming his fourth incarnation's, "Would you like a jelly baby?" before he winced, his voice returning to normal, "Why? Why!"

"Why? Why what?"

He straightened up, his voice pitching to his last incarnation's, "Hello. I'm the Doctor," and he groaned, returning to regular, "No, let it go, we've moved on!"

"Hold on," the Professor told him, "Just hold on, you can stabilize!"

Amy moved to join them but Jimmy held her back.

The Ganger reached out and grabbed the Doctor by his lapels, "I've reversed the jelly baby of the neutron flow. Would you like a...Doctor..." he scrunched his face in pain, "Doctor...I'm...I'm the...I can't..."

"No, listen, hold on," he grabbed his Ganger's arms, "Hold on!"

"Nooo!" he shoved the Doctor away, crying out in pain, his face half-formed, "Argh!"

The Professor moved over to him as he dropped to his knees and grabbed him, pulling him into a tight hug as he writhed against her, "Shh…" she tried to calm him, empathizing with the pain, clutching him tighter as he grabbed her back, holding her tightly, "Hold on."

"It hurts…" he whimpered, "It hurts. It hurts..."

"I know," she soothed, "I know, but you can do this, you  _can_  stabilize…" she pulled away just a bit and looked at him, "You're the Doctor. You can do anything."

He looked at her, tears of pain in his eyes, before he hunched forward with a groan, forcing himself to stabilize.

The Professor looked up at the Doctor who was watching her with a soft smile, ' _You know you can't call him the Doctor and not call yourself the Professor right?_ ' he started to smirk, ' _YOU'RE the Professor._ '

She hesitated a moment before giving him a small nod. She HAD called the Ganger the Doctor as though he were really him. It hadn't exactly mattered that he was a Ganger, all she saw was the Doctor in pain...

She blinked, so  _that_  was what he was talking about...

~8~

The crew was still working on barricading the door as the Ganger, now more stabile than before, rubbed the side of his head, the Professor standing beside him, rubbing his back, knowing he was probably still feeling some lingering pain.

"I think I liked it best when they were being nosy," Buzzer remarked.

Amy looked over to the Doctor as he watched the Professor help the Ganger through it, "Doctor, we need you. Get over here."

"Hello!" the Ganger looked up at her.

"Doctor!" she called, ignoring the Ganger as the Doctor didn't move.

"Cybermats," the Doctor eyed the Ganger.

"Do we have time for this?" his Ganger asked him.

"We make time."

The Professor sighed and stepped away, "He'd like more proof that you're him," she told the Ganger, really he wanted to show her the proof that the memories and experiences made the man not the substance, "So…Cybermats?"

The Ganger rolled his eyes, "Created by the Cybermen. They kill by feeding off brainwaves."

Amy turned back to the door, looking at the crew, "Are you sure there aren't any big guns with bits on?"

"Yeah, big guns would be good right now," Buzzer agreed.

"Why would we have guns?" Jimmy scoffed, "We're a factory. We mine…" they looked back as the door began to sizzle.

"Acid…" Amy realized.

The two Doctors were standing on either side of the Professor now, watching the crew.

"Rory and Amy may not trust both of us," the Ganger commented to the Doctor.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" the Doctor asked him.

"Inevitably."

"I'm glad we're on the same..."

"Wavelength. You see, great minds."

"Exactly."

The Professor laughed, "So, what's the plan?"

The Ganger moved to open his mouth but the Doctor just held up a hand, silencing him as he stared at the Professor in shock.

She frowned, "What?"

He blinked, " _You're_  asking  _us_  for the plan? YOU? The woman who can come up with a plan at the drop of a hat?"

She rolled her eyes, whacking him on the arm, "So what's the plan?"

"Save them all, humans and Gangers?" the Ganger suggested.

"Sounds wonderful," she nodded.

"Is that what you were thinking?" he looked at the Doctor.

"It's just so inspiring to hear me say it," the Doctor grinned.

"I know!"

"Doctor, come on!" Amy snapped.

"So, what now, Doctor?" the Ganger asked.

"Well, time to get cracking, Doctor," he replied.

They both walked forward, the Professor remaining in place as she shook her head at them, walking around them to stand by Amy, who was looking down at their shoes, seeing one wearing black boots and the other brown.

"Hello!" they said at once, "Sorry..."

"But we had to establish a few..." the Ganger began.

"Ground rules," the Doctor finished.

"Formulate a..."

"Protocol."

"Protocol. Very posh."

"A protocol between us. Otherwise..."

"It gets horribly embarrassing."

"And potentially confusing."

"I'm glad you've solved the problem of confusing," Amy frowned.

The Professor blinked and looked at Amy, "Is this what it sounds like when the Doctor and I finish each other's sentences?"

"Yup," she nodded.

"Is it equally as annoying?"

"Yup."

"I am  _so_  sorry."

"We all are."

"That was sarcasm before, wasn't it?" the Ganger noted.

"Amy's very good at sarcasm," the Doctor agreed.

"So is the Professor."

"Yes," he nodded, "She's quite possibly the best."

They then turned to Amy and, as one, shouted, "Breathe!"

"What?" Amy jerked back, startled.

"Alright," the Professor stepped forward, "We have to get everyone off this island. Everyone, human and Gangers."

"Sorry, would you like a memo from the last meeting?" Cleaves looked over, "They're trying to kill us!"

"They're scared."

"Professor, we're trapped in here," Amy reminded her.

"I don't think so," she shook her head, "The Flesh bowl is fed by cabling from above."

"But where are the earthing conduits?" the Ganger nodded.

"All this piping must go down into a tunnel or a shaft or something, yes?" the Doctor agreed, "With us?" he walked to a back wall and removed a paneling to see a grate behind it, "Yowza! An escape route!" Amy and the Professor looked at each other, mouthing 'Yowza' questioningly, "You know," he looked back at his Ganger, "I'm starting to get a sense of just how impressive it is to hang out with me."

"Do we tend to say 'Yowza?'" the Ganger asked.

"That's enough, let it go, ok? We're under stress."

~8~

The Gangers broke into the room, only to see it empty. Ganger Cleaves heard the sonic and moved to the grating to see the Doctor and herself on the other side. She hissed angrily as they crawled away.

~8~

Amy, the Doctor, his Ganger, and the Professor walked down a tunnel with the Originals, trying to find another place to hide.

"The army will send a recon. team," Buzzer commented.

"We need to contact the mainland," Cleaves decided.

"What about Rory and Jen?" Amy asked, "They are both out there."

"Takes a long time to find someone in a maze," the Doctor remarked, "I bet you lot have got a computer map."

"If we can get power running, we can scan for them," Cleaves nodded.

A moment later they all started coughing.

"Doctor, you said earlier to breathe…" Amy began.

"Very important, Pond," he nodded, "Breathe."

"Yeah, I'm struggling to."

"Acid interacting with the stone," the Professor managed to hiss out, not coughing as much as the others but also not appearing to be breathing either.

"Creating an asphyxiant miasma," the Ganger agreed.

"A what?" Cleaves looked back.

"Chokey gas. Extra heavy."

"If we can get above it..." the Professor called.

"The evac. tower!" Cleaves ran down the tunnel, "This way!"

They all followed her down the hall and up a flight of stairs to a tower room, the Doctor and Amy, having been just behind Cleaves, entered first, coughing, followed by his Ganger and the Professor, and then the Originals. They headed for the control panels, seeing what the damage and possibility was.

"Oh!" Amy coughed more, "I think I coughed so hard I pulled a muscle or something."

"It's ok, it's easing off," the Doctor reassured her, moving to check the front of the control panel while the Ganger ducked behind it, the Professor checking the comm. devices.

Jimmy looked up as a bell chimed the hour, "It's midnight. It's Adam's birthday. My son's five. Happy birthday, bud."

Cleaves moved to stand behind the controls, watching as the trio of aliens gathered behind it to work on it, clearly thinking they could fix it, "Can you really get the power back?"

"There's always some power floating around," the Doctor to Amy's right reasoned as she stood before the panel, watching him. He ducked down as his Ganger popped up on the left.

"Sticking to the wires, like bits of lint," he remarked before popping down.

"Can you stop finishing each other's sentences?" Amy asked them as Cleaves moved back around from behind the panel, "It's bad enough when the Professor and Doctor get…"

"Started?" the Professor joked, popping up in the center, laughing at Amy's irritated expression, "No problem Amy. We shall try to control ourselves, shan't we?" she glanced to her left and right before ducking down herself.

She glanced over at the Doctors, watching as they quickly tossed each other their shoes, ' _What's the point of that again?_ ' she asked the Doctor silently, ' _You may be able to fool the others but I'll still know which you is you._ '

' _We're both us,_ ' he replied, pulling the black boots on, before crawling on his hands and knees past her, switching places with his Ganger, ' _And Amy is going to prove that to you._ '

' _How's Amy..._ ' she began but Amy interrupted.

"Hang on," Amy called, "You said that the TARDIS was park..." the Ganger Doctor winked at the Professor and stood up and pointed at Amy who rolled her eyes at the man she thought to be the Doctor, " _Stuck_ ," she corrected and he grinned, dropping back down, "In acid, so won't she be damaged?"

The Professor popped up, shaking her head at the Doctors but going along with it, it  _was_  an interesting experiment, "She's a tough, old thing."

"Tough, old, sexy," the 'Doctor' stood up again.

"No, tough, dependable, sexy," his 'Ganger' hopped up as well.

And then they both turned to the Professor, "Like you!" and then at each other, "Oi!"

They narrowed their eyes at each other at how the other had basically flirted with the Professor, who looked between them a moment before glaring at the Doctor, "Did you just call me old?"

His eyes widened and he quickly moved to duck back down.

"Come on," Amy rolled her eyes, "Ok, how can...how can you  _both_ be real?"

"Well," the Doctor popped up again, "Because...we are. I'm the Doctor."

"So am I," his Ganger nodded.

The Professor leaned forward and crossed her arms over the panel, knowing that they both wanted  _her_  to explain this part, "They both contain the knowledge of over 900 years of experience."

"We both wear the same bow tie, which is cool."

"Because bow ties are..." the Doctor began.

"And always will be."

"But you weren't linked up to the Flesh," Amy frowned at the Ganger.

"It must've been after he examined it," the Professor reasoned.

"Thus, a new,  _genuine_  Doctor was created," the Doctor grinned.

"Ta da!" his Ganger held out his arms.

"But one of you was here first," Amy continued.

The Doctors looked at the Professor who nodded, "After the Flesh scanned the Doctor, he had an accident with a puddle of acid remember? Now, he's got new shoes."

The Doctor nodded, "A situation which did not confront me learned self here."

"That satisfy you, Pond?" his Ganger smirked.

"Don't call me Pond, please," Amy told him stiffly, the Doctors looked at her, "What?"

"Interesting," the Ganger grinned, shooting a smug look at the Professor before turning back to Amy, "You definitely feel more affection for  _him_  than  _me_."

The Professor rolled her eyes.

"No," Amy defended slightly, "I...look, you're fine and everything, but  _he_  is the Doctor..." she didn't even notice the Doctor shoot the Professor a smug look as well as her attention was on the Ganger, "No offence. Being almost the Doctor is pretty damn impressive."

"Being  _almost_  the Doctor's like being no Doctor at all," the Ganger remarked and the Professor frowned at that. He was trying to push that he wasn't ALMOST the Doctor, that he WAS the Doctor, just like SHE was also the Professor.

"Don't overreact..." Amy tried to speak but the Ganger cut her off.

"You might as well call me...Smith."

"Smith?"

"John Smith."

The Professor blinked and looked at him, "Are we going by pseudonyms again? Am I supposed to be Katherine Stewart?"

"That's Katherine Smith now," the Doctor reminded her with a grin.

The Ganger laughed, though his eyes narrowed slightly at the Doctor's mention of their marriage, apparently they hadn't quite thought this through, having two genuine Doctors, both basically married and Bonded to the Professor, running around. And it was slightly worse as, to Amy, the Doctor would be the one expected to flirt and get cozy with her. His hands began to clench into fists at the thought before he forced himself to shake his heads from the thought, clearing his throat, "And we just have one Professor round here."

"Universe could only handle one," the Doctor commented.

"Oi!" she turned to him, "I could say the same about you," and then…she stuck out her tongue.

He laughed and yanked something below the panel, turning it on, "Communication a go-go!"

They all ran around the panel as the crew fired up the machinery.

"Find Rory!" Amy ordered, "Show me the scanny tracky screen. Come on, Rory, let's be having you."

"There's no sign of him anywhere," Cleaves frowned, pulling up a screen.

"Come on, baby, show yourself…"

~8~

Cleaves leaned over the transmitter, calling into it for anyone who would listen, "St. John's calling. Emergency Alpha. St. John's calling the mainland. Are you receiving me, captain? Come in," she sighed, "We'll never get a signal through this storm," before trying again, "St. John's calling the mainland. Come in, this is urgent."

"We're just about reading you, St. John's," a man replied, "How are you doing? We've had all kinds of trouble here."

"Request immediate evacuation. We're under attack. The storm's affected our Gangers. They're running amok."

"Your Gangers?"

"Yes, our Gangers are attacking us. We need you to take us off the island immediately and wipe them out."

The Doctors and the Professor exchanged a look.

"Copy that, St. John's. Shuttle's dispatched. Hang on."

"You'll need to airlift us off the roof of the evac. tower. And captain, any further transmission sent by me must come with the following code word. I'm typing it, in case they're listening in."

"Got it. We'll swing in, get you out, and decommission the Flesh."

She nodded and turned to her crew, giving them a jerk of her head and they started preparing for the evacuation.

"What about Rory and Jen?" Amy asked, alarmed that they all seemed ready to abandon them.

"We've got to get out of here," Buzzer remarked.

"We're not leaving without them!"

"I want 'em found too, but it's about casualties, innit? Can't be helped."

Amy turned to the Doctor as he took a seat at the console, fiddling with the controls, "What are you doing?"

"Making a phone call," he remarked.

"Who to?" she sat beside him.

"No one yet. It's on delay."

"Right, not getting it. Why exactly are you making a phone call?"

The Ganger Doctor stood a few feet away, watching the exchange intently. He glanced over at the Professor who was leaning against the control panel, standing behind it again, her arms crossed over it, watching as well. She glanced up at him and he gave her a smug look before she rolled her eyes and they both returned their attention to Amy and the Doctor.

"Because, Amy, I am and always will be the optimist…"

"As I'm the pessimist," the Professor joked, recalling how sometimes her statistical facts and blunt statements came across as pessimistic.

"The hoper of far flung hopes," he continued, "And the dreamer of improbable dreams," he spun around in his chair, "The wheels are in motion. Done," he turned and spun her chair as well.

Amy laughed before settling back, next to him, looking at his Ganger, glancing at his black boots before speaking to the Doctor, "You know, really, there can be only one."

"Hmm?" he glanced up.

"Nothing. Carry on. Be amazing…" her smile soon faded when her gaze drifted to the back stone wall, a strange noise escaping it.

The Professor watched closely as she stood up and walked over. Amy jerked back, seeing a small window slide open in the wall, and a woman with an eye patch look out at her, and gasped. She glanced at the Doctor and back, but the woman was gone.

"Amy?" the Doctor called, noticing her reaction as well, "What happened?"

She walked over and fell down onto her chair, thoroughly startled, "It's her again."

The Ganger looked over at the same spot on the wall.

"It's who again?" the Professor asked, though her gaze was narrowed at the wall, staring intently at one spot.

"There's a woman I keep seeing, a woman with an eye patch, and she has this habit of sliding walls open and staring at me. Doctor? Professor?"

"It's nothing," he shook his head.

"Doesn't seem like nothing."

"It's a time memory. Like a mirage," he slapped her knee, "It's nothing to worry about," he spun around and got back to work at the console, glancing up at the Professor who looked down at him and nodded sadly.

"It's in my head..." the Ganger Doctor muttered, before closing his eyes in pain, and heading out of the room.

"Hey, hold on!" Jimmy called.

"Don't let him go," Cleaves ordered.

The Professor sighed and stepped around the control panel to follow when Amy called out, "Leave it to me," and headed out into the room after the Ganger Doctor. She hesitated a moment, slowly approaching him as he stood with his back to her, facing the wall, "I'm sorry. What I said about you being almost the Doctor, it's just…really hard, because I've been through so much with him, with the Professor as well. I've even seen...I've even seen the moment of their...can you die? If you really are the same, then you can die. You can be killed, and...I might have seen that happen…to the both of you…and…"

"Why?" he breathed.

"Why? Because you invited us to see it. Your deaths!"

He turned on her suddenly and grabbed her shoulders, pushing her against the wall roughly, "Why?"

"You're hurting me."

"It's all the eyes say! Why? I can feel them as they work each day, knowing the time was coming for them to be thrown away again. 'Not again, please!' And then they are destroyed and they feel death, and all they can say is, 'Why?'" he let her go and she fled back to the room, away from him.

"Why?" the Doctor breathed, looking at the Professor who nodded solemnly as Amy ran back in.

"Keep him away from me!" Amy demanded, out of breath, pale.

The Ganger Doctor stepped out and walked over to the Doctor and Professor, "Did you sense it?"

"Briefly," he nodded, "Not as strong as you."

The Ganger glanced at the Professor, ' _The Flesh dulls in relation to itself, it doesn't want to cause others made of it more pain. We can't sense it as strongly as you can being non-Flesh._ '

He nodded and turned to Amy, "Amy, I'm sorry..."

She stepped back, "No, you keep away! We can't trust you."

"It would appear I can connect to the Flesh," he commented, eyeing the Professor who was watching Amy closely with a small frown, watching her reactions intently.

"Well, you are Flesh."

"I'm beginning to understand what it needs."

"What YOU want. You are it."

"It's much more powerful than we thought. The Flesh can grow, correct?" he looked at Cleaves.

"Its cells can divide."

He walked over to her, "Well, now it wants to do that at will. It wants revenge. It's in pain, angry. It wants revenge."

"I was right," Amy glared, "You're  _not_  the Doctor. You can't ever be. You're just a copy."

The Professor blinked at Amy's adamant belief.

"Doctor," Cleaves looked at the Ganger Doctor, "It might be best if you stayed over there for now, hmm?"

"Hold on a minute," the Doctor stood up, "Hold your horses."

"We explained this," the Professor agreed, starting to see what the Doctor had been trying to tell her, "He  _is_  the Doctor, the Doctor  _is_  him."

Buzzer just stepped up threateningly.

"We have no issue with the Doctor," Cleaves told her, "But when it comes to his Ganger..."

The Professor scoffed, actually starting to be offended that the humans believed the Ganger to be different than the Doctor. The Doctor's Ganger  _was_ exactly like the Doctor.

"Don't be so absurd," the Doctor shook his head.

"Buzzer?" Cleaves turned to him.

"Sure, boss," he moved an empty oil barrel before the Doctor, "Take a seat, mate."

The Ganger Doctor made a point of straightening his bow tie and sat down, "Nice barrel, very comfy. Why not?"

The Doctor frowned and looked around, "Is this really what you want?"

Amy crossed her arms and looked coldly at the Ganger Doctor.

~8~

"This is the shuttle," a man came over the comm., "We're right above you, but we can't get low enough. Gamma static could fry our nav-controls. Sit tight. We'll get to you. Just..."

The Doctor pulled out the sonic and scanned Cleaves a moment.

"Hello?" Jimmy called into the comm., but static interfered, "Can you hear me?"

"I can't find Rory," Amy called, "I'm going out there."

"We could use the sonic to track him," the Doctor remarked, "Humans and Gangers give off slightly different signals. The sonic can tell the difference."

"Oh, so the sonic knows Gangers are different, so the other Doctor is different."

"He  _is_  the Doctor," the Professor said. She could see now why the Doctor believed Amy would help her see the Gangers as real, Amy herself clearly firmly believed that they weren't as well...but if the Doctor succeeded in their experiment, Amy would have been defending the Ganger all along, disproving that because she believed the Ganger was the real Doctor.

"Not to me. I can tell," she looked at the Professor, "I'm surprised you can't."

"Oh I can," she nodded, wiggling her fingers before her, "I could scan DNA Amy, the Flesh would give off just the slightest difference in molecular structure," it was a slight lie, she  _could_ scan the DNA, if she hadn't been Flesh herself, "But..." she hesitated, glancing at the Doctors as they smiled lightly at her, nodding encouragingly. As of now...she supposed it didn't really matter if the experiment continued to the end or not, because Amy HAD been defending the Ganger, "It doesn't matter what DNA means," she admitted, "It's our experiences, our minds, our souls that make us who we are. And he's exactly like the Doctor in every way. Right down to the core."

' _As are you,_ ' he whispered to her, ' _Believe me now?_ '

She nodded. She could see it now. She had been approaching it all too logically, believing that, since she wasn't in her own body but a Flesh copy that she was just a copy as well. She hadn't been allowing herself to feel what her hearts were telling her, that she  _was_  real. The Ganger had a  _copy_  of the Doctor's brain, but was still being seen as a real person, not just by Amy but by the humans as well.  _She_ had all her original thoughts and memories, she was the one in control of the Ganger, so, in a way, she was more real than the Doctor's Ganger and his was actually alive and able to function without someone in a harness...

The Doctor smirked at Amy, "Sure you're not prejudiced?"

"Nice try, but I know, ok?" Amy glared, "We've been through too much. You're my Doctor. End of."

The Professor smiled at that.

"Hey, there's a camera up," Buzzer called, "We've got a visual."

Amy ran back over to the screen, grinning widely at the sight of a pair walking through the tunnels, "That's Rory and Jennifer!"

"They're heading for the thermostatic room," Cleaves frowned.

"Let's go get them," the Doctor flipped the sonic in his hand before tossing it to his Ganger, "Hang on."

"We can't let him go. Are you crazy?"

"Am I crazy, Doctor?" he looked at his Ganger.

"Well, you did once plumb your brain into the core of an entire planet just to halt its orbit and win a bet," he shrugged. He wasn't exactly happy to leave the Professor alone with another him, not really wanting to share her with anyone, not even himself, but they had to maintain that he was the Ganger, he couldn't stay.

"I've said it once, I'll say it again," the Professor sighed, smiling a bit at them, "Mad as a box of frogs you are."

They laughed.

"He can't go rescue them," Amy shook her head, " _I'm_  going."

"Do you know, I want him to go," the Doctor stood and looked Amy in the eyes, serious again, "And I'm rather adamant."

"As am I," the Professor added, "And I should remind you all," she looked around the room, "I'm the only one with a blaster."

The Ganger stood, smirking.

"Well, then, he'll need company, right, boss?" Buzzer stepped up, "It's fine. I'll handle it."

"Thank you, Buzzer," the Ganger Doctor snapped his fingers at him, "It'll be alright. I'll find him," and they turned and left the room.

"We can't explain it to you now," the Professor turned to Amy, "But we need you to trust him."

"Can you do that for us, Amy?" the Doctor asked her.

"And what if you're wrong?" she asked.

"Oh, I don't think he is," the Professor shrugged, believing in what the Doctor had been trying to convince her of for the last few months.

"How can you tell?"

"I trust him."

"Why?"

She shrugged, "He's the Doctor."

Amy shook her head, "I don't understand you."

"Not many people do, save one…well, now two I suppose," she cast a glance at the Doctor who smiled back at her and nodded.

"Like you understand us," he agreed.

~8~

"These temperature gauges are rising," Cleaves frowned as she looked at the readings, "Jennifer and Rory must have shut off the underground cooling vents."

"Why do that?" Dicken asked, "They'll kill us."

"There's a million gallons of boiling acid under our feet..."

"And now it's heating up the whole island," the Professor sighed, "How long till it blows?" she began to calculate it when an explosion rocked the island, "Oh, that long."

"Gangers or no Gangers, we need to get the hell out of here," Dicken remarked.

"Shuttle!" Cleaves called into the transmitter, "We need evac.. Where are you? Can you hear me? Can you..." she winced in pain and gripped her head.

"Cleaves?" the Doctor moved to her side, "Cleaves, sit down…"

"I'm fine," she waved him off as he helped her sit, "I've been tested and all. I'm waiting for results, so let it go."

"It's a very deep parietal clot," he told her, having gotten that when he'd scanned her with the sonic.

Cleaves looked at him, startled, "Inoperable?"

"On Earth, yes," the Professor told her grimly.

"Well, seeing as Earth is all that's on...offer...hmm. I'm no healthy spring chicken and you're no weathermen are you?" she eyed them.

Another quake struck.

"Something just cracked," Amy looked up, alarmed, "I heard it."

"Yeah, we can't stay here, let's go," the Doctor nodded.

"Let's shift!" Jimmy shouted.

"Cleaves to shuttle," she tried once more, "We need to move, and we can't be collected from the evac. tower."

"Give us the codeword," the man replied.

"The codeword is..."

Another quake rocked the building, sending the console up in sparks, bits of the ceiling falling around them. Cleaves jumped back and tried to get to it but static played over the comms..

"Cleaves?" the Doctor pulled her back, "Cleaves, it's dead, it's dead."

"We need to get out of here," the Professor looked around, "We need to get back downstairs and get those vents back on, come on. Move!"

They ran off down a few halls, racing around corners till they reached the bottom levels of the complex, stopping short, seeing eyes sticking out of the wall, watching them.

"Ah," the Doctor remarked, "The eyes have it."

"Why are they here?" Amy frowned.

"To accuse us," the Professor remarked.

"Ignore them," Cleaves ordered, continuing on, "It's not far."

She led them to another room, throwing the door to the thermostatic room open. They ran in, the Doctor and Professor rushing to the controls, working on them quickly, trying to change the settings. But it wasn't working.

"It's a chemical chain reaction now," the Professor shook her head, "We can't stop it."

"This place is going to blow sky high," the Doctor agreed.

"Exactly how long have we got?" Cleaves asked.

"An hour? Five seconds? Er, somewhere in between."

There was another explosion and a klaxon sounded, the machinery beginning to hiss around them.

"Out!" the Professor shouted and they ran from the room.

Amy was the first to make it out, nearly running into Rory as she headed down the tunnel, "Alright?" Rory asked her.

"Oh, Rory!" Amy threw herself at him, hugging him tightly, "Oh, Rory."

"There's a way out. Jennifer found it. A secret tunnel under the crypt."

"From the crypt?" Cleaves shook her head, "It's not on the schematics."

"It runs right out of the monastery. Maybe even under the TARDIS. Follow me," he turned and led them off, the Doctor and Professor exchanging hesitant looks before following him straight to the acid room.

Cleaves led the way in as Jimmy looked around with a frown, "We can't leave without Buzzer," he said.

"I'll go back for him," Cleaves decided.

"Doctor, Professor," Rory hesitated, standing just outside the room, "Look...I'd better tell you, I haven't been quite straight with you..."

Just then a Jennifer grabbed him and pulled him back, slamming the door and locking the others inside.

"Rory!" the Professor shouted as she, the Doctor, and Cleaves ran to the door, trying to get it open.

"C'mon, Jennifer, we don't need to lock them up," Rory frowned at the woman, "We should just show them what we've found."

"I don't think so," she shook her head.

"Rory Pond," the Doctor banged on the door, "Roranicus Pondicus!"

"Rory!" Amy ran up to the small window as well, "What the hell are you playing at?"

"They've been throwing away old Flesh and leaving it to rot, alive!" he shouted, "I think the world should see that."

"Rory, there is no time," the Professor told him, "This factory is about to explode!"

Rory's eyes widened and turned to Jennifer, "Are you sure about this? 'Cos I'm not. Let them out."

"The little girl got strong," she grinned.

"What?"

"The little girl lost on the moors in her red wellies? Looking for a way home? Well, she got strong, Rory. I told you, remember?"

"But that wasn't...it was the other Jennifer that told me about being a little girl."

"Oh? What other Jennifer?" Ganger Jen's eyes flashed.

"Well, the...the...wait, you tricked me? Let me go, I'll open the door!" he turned, trying to open it but Ganger Jen pulled him back, "Let me..." he struggled but was pulled away, shouting to Amy, "I'm sorry!"

Ganger Cleaves paused by the door, looking in at herself, "We have to be free."

"I'm sorry too, Miranda," Cleaves nodded, "Of all the humans in the world, you had to pick the one with the clot. But hey, them's the breaks. Welcome to the human race."

Her Ganger eyed her a moment before leaving.

"This is going to overheat and fill the room with acid," the Doctor called as he soniced the vat in the middle of the room, "Just as a point of interest."

"And we can't stop it?"

"Just as a point of interest, no."

~8~

Rory stood before the Gangers as they gathered in the dining hall, glaring at Ganger Jen, "You created another Ganger just to trick me. You tricked me. When I found you, you were both Flesh and you tricked me into trusting you! Jen's dead, isn't she?"

"She's gone, Rory," the Ganger Doctor nodded as he sat at the table, "Gone."

"Shuttle, we're dropping down on our approach," the radio cackled, "Stand by for evac.."

"The humans will be melted, as they deserve," Ganger Jen smirked, victorious, "And then the factory will be destroyed. Once we get to the mainland, the real battle begins. The humans won't stand a chance. You're one of us, Doctor. Join the revolution."

"I've got to go and get them out," Rory strode forward but the Ganger Doctor stood and shoved him back, standing with the Gangers.

Rory glared at him, "They've got the Professor trapped in there as well."

"Yes?" the Ganger Doctor shook his head, "Your point?"

"She's your Bonded! She's going to burn with the rest of them!"

"Everyone seems so keen to remind us we're not real. And if I'm not real then she can't be  _my_  Bonded can she?" he glared at Rory who could only shake his head at him, betrayed.

' _You had to go there, didn't you?_ ' the Professor asked him silently in his mind, having been keeping tabs on him.

' _Just wanted to ram home the point dear,_ ' he replied. He knew it was her weakness, their Bonding, if she wasn't real then they weren't Bonded, and there was no way she would ever go so far as to claim that.

' _Hate you._ '

He smiled softly, feeling her resolve break completely, she truly did believe now, ' _No you don't._ '

~8~

"It'll never hold her," Jimmy called as he tried to help Dicken lower the cover over the acid.

"If you have a better plan," the Professor turned to him, "We're all ears."

"In fact, if you have a better plan, we'll take you to a planet where EVERYONE is all ears," the Doctor added.

The lid slammed shut.

~8~

"Doctor, we can't just let them die," Rory tried again.

The Ganger Doctor glanced at his watch, "Ring, ring!"

"Doctor!"

"Ring, ring!" he shoved Rory back once more. He tried to take advantage of the Gangers looking around as a quake struck to get past them but the Ganger Doctor noticed and pointed at him, "Stay!"

He stopped and put his hands up, surrendering, "Ok."

A phone rang.

"Ah, that'll be the phone," the Ganger Doctor commented, "Somebody get the phone. Jimmy, get the phone. No? Fine, I'll get the phone. Stay put," he walked over and soniced it, creating a hologram of a young boy in pajamas.

"Thank you for booking your holo-call with Morpeth Jet..." the operator began.

"Ha! Hello Adam, I'm the Doctor. Well, Other Doctor," Ganger Jimmy slowly stood, "Or Smith. It's complicated and boring. Anyway, who cares, it's your birthday!"

"Yay!" Adam cheered.

"Yay! Now, have you been getting up very early and jumping on the bed?"

"Yes, really high."

"I expect chocolate for breakfast. If you don't feel sick by midmorning, you're not doing it right. Now, I think you want to speak to dad…" he turned to look at Ganger Jimmy.

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! Daddy?"

He walked over to him, "You'll do, Jimmy. What does the other Jimmy matter now? You're both the same dad, aren't you? Come on, Adam's waiting."

"Daddy?" there was another quake, "Daddy, what's that rumbly noise? What's going on, daddy? Daddy?"

Ganger Jimmy ran out of the room.

"You've tricked him into an act of weakness, Doctor!" Ganger Jen glared at him.

"No, I've helped him into an act of humanity," he countered, "Anyone else like the sound of that? Act of humanity."

"Dicken, drain the acid well in crypt one," Ganger Cleaves ordered and Ganger Dicken rushed out after Ganger Jimmy.

"Don't you dare!" Ganger Jen spat.

"I've had it with this! What's the point in this ridiculous war? Look at you, Jen. You were a sweet kid. Look at you now. Stuff of nightmares. I don't want my world populated by monsters."

"You can't stop the factory from melting down, 'boss.' I'll take revenge on humanity with or without you."

"It doesn't have to be about revenge," the Ganger Doctor told her, "It can be so much better than that."

Ganger Jen just stormed out.

~8~

Gangers Jimmy and Dicken ran through the halls to the acid room, quickly typing in the code to open the door, only to see Jimmy get splattered on the chest with the substance.

"Let me through!" Ganger Jimmy cried, pushing his way in and over to his side as he lay on the ground.

"There's nothing we can do," the Professor sighed as she stood up from examining the man, she didn't need to scan him, she could see the acid eating away at him, "The acid's reached his heart."

"Hang in there, mate," Ganger Jimmy told himself.

"I'm quite handsome from this angle," Jimmy remarked.

"I'm...sorry. I'm the fake. Adam deserves his real dad."

"Shut up."

"What do you want me to do? Anything, just say."

"The way things are, mate...it's up to you now," he pulled on the cord around his neck and pressed it to his Ganger, "Be a dad. You remember how," he smiled once more before his head lulled to the side. Ganger Jimmy looked down to see his wedding band in his hand.

"Jimmy Wicks...you're a dad," the Doctor put a hand on his shoulder.

~8~

Rory, the Ganger Doctor, and Ganger Cleaves stood in the dining hall, looking at Adam's hologram, waiting.

"Daddy?" Adam called, "Where's my daddy?"

Ganger Jimmy entered, followed by all the others, heading straight for the image while Rory ran to Amy, hugging her tightly as Cleaves walked to her own Ganger.

"Daddy, it's me!" Adam cheered.

Ganger Jimmy laughed nervously, "Hey, sunshine! What are you up to?"

"Opening all my presents."

"Ha ha, good lad. You have fun today. And remember, your dad...he loves you very,  _very_  much."

"When are you coming home?"

"Daddy's coming home today, Adam," the Doctor walked over to the image.

"Yay!" Adam did an excited little dance, making his father smile.

"Now," the Professor called, making them all turn as she stood in the doorway, "We need to move."

~8~

The Doctor led the way through the tunnels only to stop short when they came across a very misshapen, elongated Ganger Jen, mutated and morphed.

"Run!" the Doctor turned back, ushering them away, "Run. Run!"

Ganger Jen chased after them on all fours as they ran through a narrow tunnel and into another room.

The roof groaned as the Ganger Doctor ran in, "Oh, roof's going to give!"

Both Dicken and his Ganger closed the metal door to the room as soon as everyone was in.

"We have to stop her," his Ganger told him, "This door doesn't lock."

"No, but the far one does!" Dicken realized, before darting off down the hall to the far door. They watched as he struggled to close it but it was jammed. Ganger Jen appeared farther down the tunnel, hurtling towards him. He pulled the handle and it fell off, freeing the door but breaking the lock. He ran past it, shutting it, and holding it closed from the other side.

"No!" his Ganger shouted, hearing him scream, before slamming their own door shut. Ganger Cleaves and the Doctor ran to help him hold it closed.

"Here she comes!" the Ganger Doctor shouted as the TARDIS fell through the roof before him.

"Oh, she does like to make an entrance!" the Doctor commented.

"Move!" the Ganger Doctor called, opening the door.

"Go!" the Doctor ushered as he held the door closed with Cleaves, "Go, go, go!"

Ganger Dicken ran for the TARDIS.

"Get on board!" Ganger Cleaves called to herself, "Go! "

"I'm not leaving," Cleaves insisted as Ganger Jen banged against the door.

"Go."

Cleaves hesitated a moment, before running into the TARDIS as well.

"Now's our chance," Amy ran over to them.

"I have to stay," the Doctor shook his head, "Hold this door closed. Give you time to dematerialize."

"Oh, don't be crazy. Ok, what happens to you?"

"Well, this place is just about to explode. But I can stop her."

"Both of you can survive this, ok?"

"Or perhaps you think I should stay instead..." his Ganger walked up behind her, "Mr. Smith?"

Amy turned around to see him standing there, the Professor beside him, "No, of course not. But look, this man, I've flown with him, you know? And you are amazing and yeah, I misjudged you, but you're not him. I'm sorry."

"Amy," the Professor sighed, "They swapped shoes."

"I'm the Doctor," the man beside the Professor stated.

"And I'm the Flesh," the one by the door agreed.

"You can't be," Amy shook her head, before turning to the real Ganger Doctor by the door, "You're the real him."

"No, I'm not, and I haven't been all along."

"At least not since the evac. tower," the Professor added, "They swapped shoes and places as we were fixing the controls. I saw it Amy."

"What?" Amy breathed, stunned.

"I'm the original Doctor, Amy," the Doctor told her, taking the Professor's hand, "We had to know if we were truly the same. It was important, vital, we learn about the Flesh. The Professor and I were far too biased in either direction so we could only do it through your eyes."

They needed someone who didn't know how the Flesh worked, who didn't know what was real or not to be their eyes, to give them the proper perspective.

Amy looked at the Ganger a moment, before running to hug him, "I never thought it possible."

"What?" he asked.

"You're twice the man I thought you were."

He smiled, hugging her tightly, before whispering in her ear, "Push, Amy. But only when she tells you to."

"Amy, come on!" Rory shouted as Ganger Jen banged against the door more viciously. Amy turned and ran past the Doctor towards the TARDIS.

The Doctor turned to the Professor, squeezing her hand, "Go get her ready."

She nodded and ran into the TARDIS, heading for the console.

"Well, my death arrives, I suppose," the Ganger commented.

"But this one, we're not invited to," the Doctor remarked.

"Pardon?"

"Nothing. Your molecular memory can survive this, you know. It may not be the end," he tossed him the sonic.

"If I turn up to nick all your biscuits, you'll know you were right."

He chuckled a bit, "As long as you don't nick MY Professor in the process..." the Ganger gave him a little laugh as well before they both sobered.

"Doctor!" Amy called, from the doorway, "No, please..." Rory just guided her back in.

"You too, Cleaves, off you pop," the Ganger Doctor turned to Ganger Cleaves.

"I'm staying," she shook her head.

"This is not the time for grand gestures."

"Says the king of grand gestures! This is my factory! I'm not going anywhere."

"Foreman Miranda Cleaves, marvelous!" he kissed her head, "Beware of imitations."

"Clear off out of here, the lot of you!"

The Doctor nodded and ran into the TARDIS, closing the door behind him. He looked up at the console, catching the Professor's gaze. She nodded and he ran up to her, helping her pilot the TARDIS away, trusting his Ganger to successfully dissolve Ganger Jennifer.

~8~

The Doctor leaned against the console when Amy came over to him, nudging him a bit.

"The energy from the TARDIS will stabilize the Gangers for good," the Professor remarked, coming around to the other side of him, "They're people now."

"And what happens to me?" Cleaves asked, tapping her head, "I still have this."

"Ah, that's not a problem," he snapped his fingers and looked around, "I have something for that. It's small and red and tastes like burnt onions, ha!" he pulled out a vial from under the console and tossed it to her, "But it'll get rid of your blood clot," he grinned and reached behind the console, pulling out a red balloon, "Happy endings."

~8~

The Doctor and Professor watched as Jimmy ran up behind his son, surprising him with the red balloon.

"Hey!" Jimmy called, "Hello, bud."

Adam turned, excited, and ran to his father, "Daddy, you're back!"

"Hello, my boy!" he twirled his son around, "How are you doing?"

"Happy endings," the Professor murmured as she stood there, squeezing the Doctor's hand, taking a breath, "For them."

He pressed a kiss to her temple, knowing what would be coming for them, before turning and leading her back to the TARDIS.

~8~

The Doctor, Professor, Cleaves, and Ganger Dicken walked slowly towards the doors of the room where the press conference was being held about the storm and the Gangers, Amy and Rory just behind them.

"You really want us to do this?" Cleaves eyed them.

"Your company's telling the world that the situation is over," the Doctor told her, "You need to get in there and tell them that the situation's only just begun. Make them understand what they're doing to the Flesh. Make them stop. Dicken, remember, people are good. In their bones, truly good. Don't hate them, will you?"

"How can I hate them?" Ganger Dicken smiled, "I'm one of them now."

"Yeah, and just remember, people died," the Professor reminded them, "Don't let that be in vain. Make what you say in that room count."

"Ready?" Cleaves looked at Dicken, "Side-by-side."

"You got it, boss," he nodded.

Cleaves took a breath and opened the door.

"Have the army dealt with the imposters?" a reporter immediately asked as they entered, shutting the door behind them.

"You ok?" Amy asked, eyeing the Doctor and Professor.

"We said breathe, Pond, remember?" the Doctor asked her, "Well, breathe."

"Why?"

"Just…breathe," the Professor put a hand on her arm.

Amy suddenly doubled over and gasped, "Oh! Whoa. Oh!"

"What's wrong with her?" Rory's eyes widened.

"We need to get her into the TARDIS," the Professor told him, taking Amy's arm in her hand as Rory took the other side, the two of them helping her into the box as the Doctor held the door open.

As soon as they were in he strode past them and onto the console platform. The Professor ran over to the console, hitting a few controls as Rory helped support Amy.

"Doctor!" Rory shouted, "Professor, what is happening to her?"

"Contractions," the Professor called, turning to take two steps down the stairs.

"Contractions?"

"She's going into labor."

"Did she say..." Amy shook her head, "No, of course she didn't. Rory, I don't like this. Ow!" she gripped her stomach and bent over.

"You'll have to start explaining this to me," Rory shook his head.

"What, the birds and the bees?" the Doctor asked, grimly, "She's having a baby. We needed to see the Flesh in its early days. That's why I scanned it. That's why we were there in the first place. We were going to drop you off for fish 'n' chips first, but things happened and there was stuff and shenanigans…beautiful word, shenanigans."

"It hurts!" Amy winced.

"But you're ok?" Rory frowned.

"Breathe," the Professor took another step down.

"I needed enough information to block the signal to the Flesh," the Doctor continued.

"What signal?" Amy looked up at him.

"The signal to you."

"Doctor?"

"Stand away from her, Rory."

"Why?" Rory gaped, "No! And why?"

"Given what we've learned, I'll be as humane as I can, but I need to do this and you need to stand away!"

Rory looked at Amy, who shook her head, and back at the Doctor before slowly backing away from Amy.

"No!" she cried, "No!" she turned to the Doctor and Professor as they stood before her, "Doctor, I am frightened. I'm properly, properly scared."

"Don't be," the Professor stepped over to her side, "Because whatever happens, you won't be alone," she took the girl's hand. She had to be awoken too, she would never forgive herself if anything happened to Amy and her baby while she was sleeping away in her harness having been kept asleep. She needed to protect them, she needed to be awake to do it. She also needed to be awake in order for the TARDIS to track her down, give the Doctor their location. While she was still Flesh and still in the TARDIS, the trackers that the TARDIS had for those keyed into her protections would read as her being there. If she was awake, their old girl could find them.

Amy shook her head, "I don't understand."

"When we went to the toilet in the White House," the Professor tried to explain, "Something happened. Someone took us and replaced us with Gangers," she sighed, "It was my fault. There was a Silent there, when we tried to leave we turned our back on it, forgot it was there...it gave them time to switch us out."

"What?" she breathed.

The Professor nodded, squeezing her hand, "But they made a mistake in switching me out too. I was aware of it, I'm aware, even now, that I'm lying in a harness somewhere. That you're next to me. You saw the woman with the eye patch yeah?" Amy nodded, "I can see more than that. I can hear them, at times I can feel myself there. I know what's going on. I've been keeping the Doctor updated on the both of us."

The Doctor stepped forward a few steps, "But I need you to hold on for a little longer. Rory and I…we're coming for you, for the both of you, I swear it," he looked at the Professor reaching out, placing his hand on her right heart as she did the same, clasping her hand between them, promising, "Whatever happens, however hard, however far, we  _will_  find you."

"I know," she nodded, squeezing his hand and letting it go to put both of hers on Amy's, ready.

The Doctor held up the sonic, looking her in the eye, his own filled with such promise, promise to find her, promise to get her back, promise of swift retribution against their enemies for even daring to take her from him. She gave him a small smile and nodded. He swallowed hard and activated it, melting the two of them into piles of goop.

~8~

Amy awoke with a gasp to find herself lying down in a white area, dressed in a white hospital gown. A panel slid open right above her, slightly to her right, and the woman with the eye patch looked down at her.

"Well, dear, you're ready to pop, aren't you?" she grinned, "Little one's on its way," Amy looked down to see her own heavily pregnant stomach and started to whimper, "Here it comes. Puuuush!"

She then felt something on her right hand and looked over to see the Professor lying beside her, in a white gown as well, grabbing her hand.

"I'm here Amy," she breathed, squeezing the woman's hand as she screamed, the labor pains setting in.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope I didn't confuse any of you with the who was the Ganger and who was the Doctor. After they switch shoes I went from Amy's perspective when addressing who was speaking. The Professor however, knows that when it appears to Amy that the Ganger is speaking it's really the Doctor and vice versa.
> 
> Next chapter we get quite a bit of BAMF Professor, a flashback (the first and possibly only one) that is NOT from the Doctor/Professor on Gallifrey before the Time Lock (it really is needed though to explain a bit more of River/Melody's future storyline and another reason for the Professor being captive as well), and...I'm throwing in a little reference to an old TV show (Firefly...or the movie Serenity) for those who have seen it. Virtual cookie to those who spot it (wow I'm giving out a lot of cookies and things lol). So excited! ^-^


	10. A Good Man Goes to War

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a portion of the flashback that is M level violent/graphic, just a warning.

The Professor stood near Amy, glaring at the woman with the eye patch as she stood with guards by the door of the white nursery on their asteroid base. She glanced at Amy as she leaned over a small white table, caressing the baby girl that lay on it, her daughter Melody.

"I wish I could tell you that you'll be loved," Amy whispered to the baby, "That you'll be safe and cared for and protected. But this isn't a time for lies," she gently picked up her child, "What you are going to be, Melody...is very, very brave."

"Two minutes," Patchy remarked. The Professor's glare darkened.

"But not as brave as they'll have to be," the Professor muttered as she backed up to stand beside Amy.

Amy smiled at her and nodded, looking down at her baby once more, "Because there's someone coming. I don't know where he is, or what he's doing, but trust me. He's on his way. There's a man who's  _never_  going to let us down," Amy continued, glancing out the window to look at the large army gathering in the hanger outside, the Professor at her side, watching the guards, "And not even an army can get in the way."

"Amy…" the Professor warned. She turned around to see Patchy walking towards her with her arms out, two soldiers close behind.

"Leave her, just you leave her," Amy shook her head, stepping back, "Please leave her! Leave her!"

One of the guards stepped past Patchy, moving to subdue Amy but the Professor was quicker. She grabbed his arm, breaking it in one swift go, managing to lay another firm punch across the face of the second soldier as well before she fell to the ground in a crippling pain, grabbing the metal collar around her neck as massive amounts of electricity coursed through her, enough to incapacitate an elephant but only weakening to a Time Lord, especially one with her training.

She looked up as she fell to her knees to see Patchy pressing a device on her wrist, activating the collar. She didn't cry out in pain, having suffered a similar fate at the hands of the Krillitanes. But she grit her teeth, trying to push past the pain but Patchy simply increased the voltage till she couldn't even feel her limbs before cancelling out the device. She fell onto her hands with a pant, glaring up at the woman as she smirked down at her. But at least she'd incapacitated two guards, she always managed to stop a few…

And it was never enough.

Amy wept as another guard pulled the baby away from her and moved to place it in an advanced white bassinette. She rushed over, leaning over Melody. The Professor, now on her knees, restrained, with her hands behind her back, two guards on either side of her, was shaking from the electricity. Amy felt horrible, the woman only ever attacked the guards to protect her and Melody…

Melody cooed up at her and she took a breath, "He's the last of his kind. He looks young, but he's lived for hundreds and hundreds of years. And wherever they take you, Melody, however scared you are, I promise you, you will never be alone," she leaned forward and kissed her daughter on the forehead, "Because this man is your father. He has a name, but the people of our world know him better...as the Last Centurion."

~8~

"I have a message and a question," Rory stated as he stood before a group of Cybermen, having infiltrated their ship, "A message and a question from the Doctor and me. Where. Are. Our. Wives?" there was no response, "Oh, don't give me those blank looks. The 12th Cyber Legion monitors this entire quadrant," he walked into the room, acting far more confident than he felt, as he headed towards a large window, standing before it, a fleet of Cyberships visible behind him, "You hear  _everything_. So you tell me what I need to know, you tell me now, and I'll be on my way."

"What is the message?" the Cyberleader demanded, having only heard the question.

The ships outside the window exploded though Rory remained unfazed.

"Would you like  _me_  to repeat the question?" a voice said behind the Cybermen. They turned around to see the Doctor standing behind them, leaning against a wall, his arms crossed, a dangerous look in his eyes.

The TARDIS had managed to track the Professor to this quadrant before some sort of cloaking device was used to block the trackers. The Cyber Legion was their best bet, with their systems and communications picking up every sort of transmission. She was still able to receive the odd psychic message from the Professor, some plans and layouts she'd learned about the base, but not the name of it.

"The Demons Run asteroid base," the Cyberleader answered, unwilling to risk the Doctor's wrath on them as he had their ships.

The Doctor nodded and turned, snapping his fingers as the doors to the TARDIS opened beside him, "Rory," he called, entering. Rory strode past the Cybermen after him, stepping in and closing the door behind him. The Doctor was already at the console, piloting them away.

Rory frowned seeing an odd glint in the Doctor's eye and walked over to him as the man brought around the monitor to where the few remaining Cyberships were. He reached out and pulled a lever, blowing up the last ships. Rory's eyes widened in horror, "Doctor!" he looked at the man, startled, "They told us where to find them!"

The Doctor just gave him a hard look, "They didn't tell us the first time you asked."

And that was all he said as he moved quickly around the console, getting them into the Vortex.

Rory quickly made his way around and grabbed his arm, "Doctor stop!" he pulled the man back a bit, "I want to get them back too, just as much as you do, but we can't just go blowing up things, especially not after they helped up...sort of..."

The Doctor's eyes narrowed as he pulled his arm away, advancing on Rory dangerously, forcing the man back, "I burned my planet because it took the Professor away from me," he told Rory, "Whoever took her should count themselves as lucky, VERY lucky, that I don't burn every planet, moon, star, base, in my way to getting her back," he turned and focused on the controls once more, now that they had the location, they needed their allies, " _Nothing_  will stop me from finding her, alive and well. And I  _will_  find her alive and well...or they won't be able to run fast enough, far enough. I will  _hunt every single one of them down_ ," he pulled a lever and walked around to the other end of the console, leaving a very startled and slightly scared Rory...

~8~

Rory stood outside River's empty cell in Stormcage. The Doctor had picked up a Silurian woman named Vastra, whom he and the Professor had helped once, and her maid Jenny from London in 1888 as well as a Sontaran, Strax, who owed the Professor an honor debt, from the middle of the battle of Zaruthstra in 4037. They were set to collect a large blue alien named Dorium, who seemed to be indebted to the Doctor and had connections with the Headless Monks, just after he collected River which was why he was there.

He looked over as the alarms went off to see River in a light blue Victorian dress and muffler swaying down the hallway and over to a phone on the wall that was ringing. She laughed, answering it, "Oh, turn it off. I'm breaking in, not out. This is River Song, back in her cell...oh, and I'll take breakfast at the usual time. Thank you!" she hung up and glided down the floor towards him, stopping when she spotted him, "Oh, are you boys dressing up as Romans now? I thought nobody read my memos."

He stepped forward, "Dr. Song? It's Rory. Sorry, have we met yet? Time streams, I'm not quite sure where we are..."

"Yes," she nodded, looking at him almost sadly, "Yes, we've met. Hello, Rory."

"What's wrong?"

"It's my birthday," she laughed nervously, "The Doctor and Professor took me ice skating on the River Thames in 1814, the last of the great frost fairs. They even got Stevie Wonder to sing for me under London Bridge."

"Stevie Wonder sang in 1814?"

"Yes, he did. But you must never tell him," she put her finger on her lips.

"I've actually just come from the Doctor…"

"Yes, but at a different point in time."

"Unless there's two of them."

"Now, that's a whole different birthday," River laughed, turning to her cell as she pulled out her diary, "The Professor was none too pleased I'll have you know…"

"They need you!" he cut in.

"Demons Run," she closed the book.

"How...how did you know?"

"I'm from their future. I always know," she eyed his centurion getup, "Why on Earth are you wearing that?"

"The Doctor's idea."

"Of course. His rules of engagement. Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."

"Look ridiculous."

"Have you considered heels?" she turned away from him.

"They've taken Amy. And our baby. And the Professor as well," he walked towards her, "The Doctor's getting some people together, we're going after them, but he needs you too."

"I can't," she turned to him, sadly, "Not yet, anyway."

"I'm sorry?"

"This is the Battle of Demons Run. The Doctor and Professor's darkest hour. They'll rise higher than ever before and then fall so much further. And...I can't be with them till the very end."

"Why not?"

"Because this is it," she stepped into her cell, "This is the day they find out who I am."

The Doctor hit a button on the monitor, turning it off, having been watching Rory and River. He frowned, confused, why would her identity being discovered mean she couldn't help them?

~8~

The Professor and Amy stood in the nursery, Melody having been taken away, watching as the army stood 'at ease' before Colonel Manton, the dark skinned right hand man of Madame Kovarian, or Patchy as the Professor liked to mock. He was standing on a stage with three Headless Monks behind him, Kovarian to the side as he rallied his troops, "He is not the devil. He is not a god. He is not a goblin, or a phantom, or a trickster. The Doctor is a living, breathing man, and as I look around this room I know one thing...we're sure as hell going to fix that!" the soldiers cheered just as the door behind them opened.

The Professor turned quickly, watching as a young female soldier stopped at the steps, startled that she'd been noticed, before cautiously continuing on. The Professor eyed her closely, frowning in thought as she placed the woman before her. She was much older than the last time she'd seen the girl in the Gamma Forests, Lorna Bucket, if she recalled correctly.

"Sorry," Lorna called as Amy barely spared her a glance, "I shouldn't be here, I'm meant to be at the thing. I brought you something," she took out a small swatch of green cloth with gold stitching and looked at Amy, "Your child's name, in the language of my people," Amy turned to glance at it, "It's a Prayer Leaf and we believe, if you keep this with you, your child will always come home to you."

"Can I borrow your gun?" the Professor asked her.

"Why?"

"They've taken mine."

"Talking like he's famous," Amy muttered as she turned back to the window, "The Doctor isn't famous..."

"He meets a lot of people," Lorna shrugged, "Some of them...remember," she smiled and glanced at the Professor, "Remember the both of you. You're sort of like...I dunno. Dark legends."

"Dark?" Amy scoffed, wanting to defend her friends, "Have you met them?"

"Yeah."

"You were just a little girl then," the Professor agreed.

"So was I," Amy remarked, turning to Lorna.

"You've been with them a long time then?" she asked Amy, seeing how comfortable and close the two women were.

"No," the Professor told her.

"They came back for me," Amy smiled at the woman beside her.

"You must be very special," Lorna said softly.

"Hey," Amy turned to her, "You can wait a long time for the Doctor and Professor here," she squeezed the Professor's hand, "But they're worth it. Ok?"

"The thing you need to know," the Professor told her calmly, "Is that the Doctor's coming. There's no question about it. Just make sure you're on the right side when he gets here. Not for our sake but for yours."

Amy held out her hand and Lorna gave her the Prayer Leaf, "Thank you."

And with that, she turned back to the window, the Professor watching till Lorna left the room before turning as well.

"On this day, in this place, the Doctor will fall," Manton continued to the cheers, "The man who talks, the man who reasons, the man who lies, will meet the perfect answer. Some of you have wondered why have we have allied ourselves with the Headless Monks…" the Professor squinted, spotting Lorna sneaking back into her position, "Perhaps you should have wondered why we call them 'Headless.' It's time you knew what these guys have sacrificed for faith. As you all know, it is a Level One Heresy, punishable by death, to lower the hood of a Headless Monk. But, by the divine grant of the Papal Mainframe herself, on this one and only occasion, I can show you the truth. Because these guys never can be..." he turned to the first Monk and lowered its hood to reveal them to truly be headless, a knotted, twisted, bit of flesh where the neck should have been, "Persuaded! They NEVER can be..." he did the same to the second Monk, "Afraid," and approached the third, ready to do the same, "And they can never, ever be..."

The third Monk threw back his own hood to reveal the Doctor, "Surprised?" Amy grinned widely and pressed herself against the window as the Professor smirked to herself, watching as the soldiers looked on, stunned, "Hello everyone! Guess who!" he walked to the front of the stage, "Please point a gun at me if it helps you relax."

"Idiot," the Professor murmured fondly, though watching cautiously as all the soldiers seemed to do just that, the Monks readying their energized swords.

"You're only human," the Doctor smirked.

Manton stepped forward, aiming his gun at the Doctor, "Doctor, you will come with me, right now!"

The Doctor turned, catching sight of the two girls in the window, before returning his attention to Manton as he smiled mockingly "3 minutes, 40 seconds. Professor Pond! Get your coats!" he put his hood back on just as the lights went out.

When they came back on, the Doctor was gone.

"I'm not a phantom," the Doctor said, his voice echoing over the speakers.

"Doctor?" Manton called.

"I'm not a trickster."

"Doctor?"

"I'm a monk."

"Doctor, show yourself!"

"It's him!" a soldier aimed his gun at a Monk, "He's here!" the rest quickly followed suit.

"Well, what do you know?" the Professor mumbled, "Instigating mass hysteria, I'll make a soldier out of him yet," Amy laughed and linked their arms, watching.

"It's him!" a soldier shouted, shooting at one of the Monks, creating tension between the two sides.

"Weapons down!" Manton ordered, "Do not fire!" one of the Monks, though, retaliated, shooting a bolt of energy at the soldier, "NOOO!" and then all hell broke loose between the two factions, "Doctor! Doctor!" Manton ran forward to the edge of the stage, "Nobody discharge their weapon in this room. Nobody! Do not fire! Stop, wait! Listen to me!" he held up his gun, "I'm disarming my weapon pack," the soldiers looked over to see him do just that, "Monks, I do this in good faith! I am now unarmed," he placed it on the floor, "All of you, discharge your weapon packs. The Doctor is trying to make fools of us...we are soldiers of God, we are not fools! We are not fools!"

"We are not fools!" a few soldiers agreed, starting to remove their packs.

"We are not fools!"

"We are not fools!" they chanted, more and more removing their packs.

The Professor couldn't help but snort when teleports kicked in and suddenly the now unarmed army was surrounded by Silurian soldiers and Judoon, "Oh, of course they're not fools!" she and Amy laughed as the Doctor succeeded in making them just that, fools.

"This base is now under our command!" Strax appeared beside Manton, aiming his gun at him.

"I have a fleet out there!" Manton threatened, "If Demons Run goes down, there's an automatic distress call."

"You think we don't know about that?" the Doctor's voice came over the speakers again and the army looked up to see him standing on a raised platform just under the window to the nursery, "You have my Bonded here, my wife," he turned and blew a kiss up to her before spinning to face the army once more, "And she's been keeping tabs on you," he looked around at the hanger, "A base this size ought to take round about…oh…three weeks?" he ventured, "For her to map out in its entirety. I've got the blue prints to your whole base and you didn't even know. So…what's say we knock out your communications array," he held up a comm. to his mouth, "You've got incoming!"

"Danny Boy to the Doctor," a spitfire pilot came over the comm., "Danny Boy to the Doctor."

"Give 'em hell, Danny Boy!" he put his arms out and pretended to be a plane, firing at the base. The ship rocked as the planes really fired, Amy smiling and looking up, laughing.

"Target destroyed!" came the report, making the Doctor laugh as well.

Manton hung his head, "Don't slump, it's bad for your spine!" Strax reprimanded.

The Doctor grinned a bit, before he looked down at the army, on its knees, defenseless and eyed them a moment longer. He felt anger rise in him, these were the people who had taken his wife, his Bonded...these were the people who had joined an army to destroy them both...he shouldn't have just knocked out their communications and taken possession of the base, he should have gotten Amy and the Professor out and destroyed them all...

' _Anger is always the shortest distance to a mistake,_ ' he heard the Professor whisper in his mind.

He took a breath, shaking his head, to destroy them would mean killing them in cold blood...he wouldn't be the Doctor if he did that. He sighed, "You're only human," he whispered, reminding himself of that.

~8~

Strax was escorting Manton at gunpoint to one of the control rooms where Vastra and Jenny had cut the lights, the two women and Dorium standing to the side as the Doctor sat at the control panel.

"All airlocks sealed, resistance neutralized!" Strax reported.

"Sorry, Colonel Manton, I lied," the Doctor remarked, smirking darkly at the man, "3 minutes, 42 seconds. Though, the Professor could probably do it in 3 and 30."

"Colonel Manton, you will give the order for your men to withdraw," Strax ordered.

"No. Colonel Manton...I want you to tell your men to run away," he said, a slight tremble in his voice that was most certainly not fear or sorrow. He may have forgiven the army, spared their lives, but to be faced with one of the two people in charge of the base, responsible for taking the Professor from him...he could feel his blood starting to boil as his fury mounted.

"You what?" Manton looked at him, stunned.

"Those words. Run away. I want you to be  _famous_  for those exact words. I want people to call you Colonel Run-Away. I want children  _laughing_  outside your door, 'cos they've found the house of Colonel Run-Away," he stood and pointed a finger at him, glaring as he advanced dangerously on the man, "And, when people come to you and ask if trying to get to  _me_  through  _my wife_ , through the people I  _love_!" he spat, the anger in his eyes actually making the man step back, "Is in  _any_ way a good idea...I want you to tell them _your name_ ," he took a breath, shaking as he looked at Manton, "Oh, look! I'm angry. That's new," he swallowed hard, trying to control his anger, letting out a slightly insane laugh, "I'm really not sure what's going to happen now."

"The anger of a good man is not a problem," Kovarian remarked as she was led in by two Silurians, "Good men have too many rules."

The Doctor scoffed and turned to her, "Good men don't need rules  _Patchy_ ," he walked over to her, "Today is not the day to find out why I have so many. And certainly not the time to find out why the Professor's got even more."

Kovarian glared at him a moment, "Give the order," the Doctor stepped back, surprised, "Give the order Colonel Run-Away."

He smirked and turned, heading out of the room, he had a very important girl to find.

~8~

The Professor spun around as the door behind them knocked, Amy looked around quickly for a weapon as the Professor laughed, thinking back to something Martha had said in 1913 about scarecrows not knocking.

"Who's that, who's there?" Amy demanded, grabbing an industrial thermometer, "You watch it, 'cos I'm armed and really dangerous and...cross!"

"Yeah," Rory remarked through the door, "Like I  _don't_  know that."

"Rory?" Amy blinked, stunned, as the Professor moved to pluck the thermometer from her, setting it back down, "Rory, is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me..." the sonic whirred, "Hang on a minute."

"Next setting Rory," the Professor called.

"Ah, thanks!"

"They took her," Amy called to him, "Rory, they took our baby away."

The door opened to reveal Rory standing there with Melody in his arms, "Now, Mrs. Williams...that is never, ever going to happen."

The Professor stepped back as Rory headed down towards Amy, leaving the young couple some space.

"Oh, my God. Oh, my God," Amy quickly checked her daughter as soon as she was near enough, "Where's she been, what have they done to her..."

"She's fine," Rory reassured her, both of them looking down at the baby, "Amy, she's fine, I checked. She's beautiful," he teared up, "Oh, God, I was going to be cool. I wanted to be cool, look at me."

"You're ok. Crying Roman with a baby, definitely cool. Come here you!" she pulled him into a kiss.

"Ugh, kissing and crying, I'll be back in a bit," the Doctor called from the door.

"Oi!" the Professor shouted as he made to turn, "You! Get in here. Now. And help me with this," she pointed at the metal collar.

He laughed, not  _really_  planning to leave, and headed over to her. Rory tossed him the sonic and he flashed it across her collar, disengaging it, before pulling something out of his pocket, "And…look what I found…" he tossed her her blaster.

"My blaster!" she gushed, her eyes lighting up as she looked it over, "Oh, I thought I'd never see you again! I missed you so much!"

"Yeah, well…" he started to smile, only to realize she was talking to her blaster and pouted.

She laughed, "I missed you too," and pulled him into a kiss as well.

Rory and Amy laughed, shaking their head at the duo. The Professor pulled away with a grin. "And that's not all," the Doctor added, pulling out a small bouquet of flowers from his inner coat pocket, "Ta da!"

"Doctor," the Professor laughed, taking them from him and smelling them.

"You know…the TARDIS was right."

"About what?"

"You do make the loveliest bouquet."

She looked down and saw that all the flowers in the bouquet were the ones the TARDIS associated with her, "Thank you," she whispered, kissing him again. She moved to pull away but he reached out and cupped her cheek, holding her to him a few moments longer.

Rory smiled as he watched them. He could see it, even now, the Doctor's entire demeanor shifting from the hardened, driven man who had raged his way across the Universe, to the kind, gentle, caring man who always looked out for everyone on their adventures.

"Oi!" Amy shouted at him, whacking him on the arm not holding Melody, making the aliens break apart to look over, "I give you a daughter and you can't give me flowers?"

The Professor laughed as Rory sputtered, Amy just kissing him in jest, before linking her arm with the Doctor and leading him over to the couple.

"My daughter," Rory sighed, "What do you think?"

"Hello," the Doctor waved at the child, "Hello, baby."

"Melody," the Professor whispered to him.

"Melody! Hello, Melody Pond!"

"Melody Williams," Rory corrected.

"...is a geography teacher," Amy declared, "Melody Pond is a superhero!"

The Doctor paused a moment, listening to Melody gurgling, "Well, yes, I suppose she does smell nice. Never really sniffed her, maybe I should give it a go. Amelia Pond, c'mere!" he turned and hugged her as the Professor moved to give Rory a one armed hug as well, careful of Melody.

"Doctor!" Amy laughed, hugging him back.

"I'm sorry we were so long," he sniffed her.

"It's ok, we knew you were coming. Both of you," she glanced at the Professor with a smile, "Our boys!"

Melody squealed.

"It's ok, she's still all yours," the Doctor turned back to the baby, "And really you should call her 'Mummy,' not 'Big Milk Thing.'"

"Ok, what are you doing?"

"I speak Baby."

"No, you don't!"

"I speak everything..." the Doctor said smugly, "Don't I, Melody Pond?"

Melody just gurgled.

"No it's not," the Professor tweaked the Doctor's bow tie, "It's cool."

Amy and Rory looked at her in shock as the Doctor's eyes widened.

She rolled her eyes at them, "Yes I know, you've FINALLY broken me down about it...either that or I missed you more than I thought..."

He grinned and gave her a quick peck, "Let's go with both."

"Doctor!" Vastra called, entering the room, "Take a look. They're leaving," he and the Professor walked over to the window, looking out as the soldiers were marched off, "Demons Run is ours without a drop of blood spilled. My friends, you have never risen higher!"

Rory looked up sharply at those words, thinking back to what River had said.

~8~

Amy stepped out of the TARDIS with Melody in her arms as the baby cried.

Rory looked over from where he was standing beside the Professor, who was looking around the base, tense, like she couldn't shake the feeling that something was lurking about.

"Hey what's wrong?" Rory asked as Amy walked over to them.

"She doesn't like the TARDIS noise," Amy replied, "I asked him to turn something off, but it was all…"

"Let me guess," the Professor looked at her, "'I don't want to punch a hole in the space-time continuum.'"

"Yeah."

"Professor," Strax saluted as he and Jenny walked over, she returned it as well, before he went on to give his report, "The Judoon have escorted the clerics out of the quadrant, Spitfires have returned to their own time, and Captain Avery and his men..."

"Is she alright?" Jenny cut in, looking worriedly at Melody.

"Yes, she's just crying," Amy remarked.

"The TARDIS woke her up," the Professor told her, "She just wants to take a nap."

"Give her to me, human fool," Strax reached out for Melody, "She needs changing."

"I just changed her," Amy shook her head.

"She wants to sleep," the Professor corrected her.

Amy shook her head, "I think she might need a feed."

"A feed, of course," Strax stepped forward, "I'll take care of everything."

"I really don't think you will, actually," Rory eyed the alien.

"She's just tired," the Professor tried again, the humans seeming to forget that she too could understand Baby.

"I have gene-spliced myself for all nursing duties," Strax continued, offended, "I can produce magnificent quantities of lactic fluid."

"She's not  _hungry_ , she's  _tired_!" the Doctor called as he stepped out of the TARDIS with an old, wooden, purple cot, "Sorry, Melody, they're just not listening."

The Professor shook her head and looked at him, "I understand what you mean about having a face people don't listen to," she joked.

"What's this?" Amy looked at the cot as the Doctor set it down on a box near them.

"Very pretty, according to your daughter," the Professor laughed.

"It's a...it's a cot…" Rory observed.

"No flies on the Roman," the Doctor rolled his eyes, "Give her here. Hey!"

Amy gently handed her daughter over to him, "There we go."

"But where would you get a cot?" Rory shook his head as the Doctor laid Melody down in it.

"It's old. Really old. Doctor...do you and the Professor have any children?"

"No," the Professor answered for him.

"Have you ever had children?"

The Doctor tensed, looking at Melody, "No, it's real, it's my hair."

"Who slept in here?"

"Doctor!" Vastra called over the comms., "Professor! We need you in the main control room."

The Doctor nodded, "Be right there!" before turning to Amy and Rory, "Things to do...we've still got to work out what this base is for. We can't leave till we know," he turned and took the Professor's hand, heading off.

"But this is where we were?" Amy called after them, making them stop, "The whole time we thought we were on the TARDIS, we were really here."

The Professor moved back to her and hugged her tightly, they hadn't exactly gotten to talk much about this during their stay, being constantly watched by Kovarian and her guards, "We were on the TARDIS too...our hearts, our minds, our souls."

"But physically, yes," the Doctor added, "You were still in this place."

"And when I saw that face looking through the hatch..." Amy pulled back a bit to look at both of them, "Patchy looking at me..."

"Reality bleeding through," the Professor nodded.

"So their Flesh avatars were with us ever since Washington?" Rory tried to follow, "All that time? But that means they were projecting a control signal right into the TARDIS. Wherever we were in time and space…"

"Yeah, they're very clever," the Doctor nodded.

"Who are?" Amy asked.

"Whoever wants our baby," Rory remarked.

"But why do they want her?"

"Exactly!" the Doctor pointed.

"Is there anything you're not telling us? You knew both knew Amy wasn't real, that the Professor wasn't real, but you never said."

"I couldn't be sure they weren't listening," the Professor sighed.

"But you always hold out on us," Amy pleaded, "Please, not this time. Doctor, Professor, it's our baby. Tell us something. One little thing."

"It's ours," the Doctor said.

"What is?" Rory frowned.

"The cot," the Professor added, "It's our cot."

"Well, technically, it's my cot," the Doctor corrected, "I made it."

"You made it?" Rory shook his head, "Then how is it both of yours?"

The Professor sighed, "He made it as a woodshop craft during our time in the Academy."

He nodded, "Etched our names on the sides for the day when we would have a child of our own."

"I think it was more of a gag gift. Sort of like when you have a childhood friend you claim you'll marry one day sort of thing."

"Except this time it really happened," the Doctor dropped a kiss on her head.

Rory and Amy smiled at that and turned to the cot, looking at the mobile hanging over it with small metallic celestial bodies dangling from it.

"Oh, my God," Amy laughed, "The baby's first stars."

"Come on," the Doctor tugged the Professor off.

"I think I should stay here," she told him, "Something about this…it doesn't sit right with me. I can't help but think this was all too easy and one thing we learned during training was to NEVER ignore our instincts."

He nodded, "I'll be back as soon as I figure out what's going on."

She nodded, giving him a quick kiss and sending him off, he only made it a few steps before he dashed back to her and gave her a longer kiss, grinning widely before rushing off again, leavnig her breathless and grinning. She reached up, lightly putting her fingers to her lips a moment, before turning back to Amy and Rory as they doted on their daughter.

A few moments later Strax's voice was heard, "Drop your weapons!" they looked over to see him marching Lorna in, "State your rank and intent! I found it listening at the door!"

~8~

The Doctor entered the main control room to see Dorium sitting at the controls, "You've hacked into their software then?"

"I believe I sold it to them," he remarked.

"So what have we learned?"

"That anger is always the shortest distance to a mistake," Vastra recited.

"I'm sorry?"

"The words of an old friend who once found me in the London Underground, attempting to avenge my sisters on perfectly innocent tunnel diggers."

"Well...you were very cross at the time…and I'm sure the Professor aiming her blaster at you didn't help…"

"You were quite cross today as well, old friend. Point taken, I hope," he nodded in acceptance, "Now, I have a question. A simple one. Is Melody human?"

"Sorry, what? Of course she is!" he laughed uncomfortably, "Completely human, what are you talking about?"

"They've been scanning her since she was born and I think they found what they were looking for," Dorium pulled up a screen.

The Doctor walked over, frowning at the image of the DNA strand of Melody's, "Human DNA."

"Look closer," Vastra told him, "Human plus. Specifically...human plus Time Lord."

~8~

"I heard her talking...this is a trap," Lorna told them, "Why would I lie to you?"

Rory stepped forward, "Well, you might want to take a look at your uniform."

"The only reason I joined the clerics was to meet the Doctor and Professor again."

Jenny frowned, "You wanted to meet them, so you joined an army to fight them?"

"Well, how else do you meet a great warrior and a deadly weapon?"

"He's not a warrior," Amy shook her head.

"And she's not a weapon," Rory added.

The Professor looked down at that, memories of the war playing through her mind.

"Then why are they called the Doctor and Professor?"

"Sorry what?" Amy asked.

The lights went out and Lorna turned to the Professor, sensing she would be the one willing to listen, "It's starting. Please listen to me."

~8~

"But she's human," the Doctor continued, "She's  _Amy_  and  _Rory's_  daughter."

"You told me about your people," Vastra remarked, "They became what they did through prolonged exposure to the Time Vortex. The Untempered Schism..."

"Over  _billions_  of years, it didn't just happen."

"So how close is she? Could she even regenerate?"

"No, no! I don't think so."

"You don't sound so sure."

"Because I don't understand how this happened! And the Professor isn't exactly here with us to go over the information!"

"Which leads me to ask...when did it happen?"

"When?"

"I am trying to be delicate...I know how easily you blush, the Professor's proved it numerous times. When did this baby...begin?"

"Oh, you mean..."

"Quite."

"Well, how would I know? That's all humany, private stuff, it just sort of...goes on. They don't put up a balloon, or anything," he turned and paced down the hall.

"But could the child have begun on the TARDIS, in flight, in the Vortex?"

"No, no, impossible!" he headed back, "It's all running about, sexy fish vampires, and blowing up stuff. And Rory wasn't even there at the beginning. Then he was dead, then he didn't exist, then he was plastic. Then the Professor and I had to reboot the whole Universe...long story. So technically the first time they were on the TARDIS, together, in this version of reality, was on their..."

"On their what?"

He gulped, "On their wedding night."

~8~

"Confirmed," Strax looked at his scanner, "No life forms registering on this base, except us and the Silurians."

"The Headless Monks aren't alive..." the Professor shook her head, "They wouldn't register as life forms."

~8~

"Doesn't make sense!" the Doctor continued, "You can't just cook yourself a Time Lord."

"Of course not, but you gave them one hell of a start and they've been working very hard ever since," Vastra told him.

"And yet they gave in so easily," Dorium muttered, "Does this not that bother anyone else?"

"Amy!" the Doctor's eyes widened, "She worried the baby would have a time head. She said that..."

"Only you would ignore the instincts of a mother!" Vastra chastised him.

"Or the instincts of a coward," Dorium added, "This is too easy. There's something wrong."

"Why even do it?" the Doctor continued to ignore him, "Even if you could get your hands on a brand new Time Lord, what for?"

"A weapon?" Vastra shrugged.

"Why would a Time Lord be a weapon?"

"Well..." she sighed, knowing he wouldn't like what she was about to say, "They've seen the Professor."

"The Professor?" the Doctor sat down, stunned. As much as he didn't want to think on that, he knew a good majority of the Universe still thought of his Bonded as the living weapon of the Time Lords, despite all she'd done to try and make up for that horrible time.

"Mr. Maldovar, you're right," Vastra turned to him, "This was too easy. We should get back to the others."

"The Professor?" the Doctor breathed as they left.

"I see you accessed our files," Kovarian said. He stood up quickly and spun around to see her on the screen behind him, "Do you understand yet? Oh, don't worry, I'm a long way away. But I like to keep tabs on you. The child then...what do you think?"

"What is she?"

"Hope. Hope in this endless, bitter war."

"What war? Against who?"

"Against you, Doctor. You and your Bonded."

~8~

"We need to go, now," the Professor turned to Amy, putting a hand behind her back to lead her to the TARDIS with Melody when a glowing light appeared around it.

"What's that?" Amy asked as Vastra and Dorium joined them.

Vastra moved to approach it when the Professor held up a hand, signaling for her to keep back. She herself cautiously approached, placing a hand on it, pulling back sharply as the energy stung her, "Force field," well at least she could scan things again.

"Can you break through it?" Rory asked, now on alert.

She shook her head, "No…not without a sonic device," she huffed, "Knew I should have had the TARDIS make me one…"

A loud click echoed around them.

"And those are the doors...locking," Lorna remarked.

"Apparently we're not leaving," Vastra tensed.

And then…they heard chanting.

"Is that the Monks?" Rory frowned.

"Oh, dear God...that's the attack prayer!" Dorium gasped.

"Everyone, get ready," the Professor ordered, "Rory find a safe place for Amy."

"Quick," Rory turned to Amy, leading her and Melody away, "Come with me"

"Commander Strax!" Vastra called to the Sontaran.

"I'm trying to seal off this area of the lighting grid," he shouted back and the lights went on around them.

"This is where we'll make our stand."

"Clear lines of sight on all approaches," the Professor commanded as the Monks approached, their swords out and charged.

"Centurion, you're needed!" Vastra called as she and the Professor eyed the Monks at the back of the room.

Lorna ran to a nearby crate and dug through it, "There should be some plasma pistols somewhere. They left everything."

"Then find them, boy!" Strax ordered.

"She's definitely a girl," Vastra remarked to Jenny.

"Oh, stop it!" Jenny rolled her eyes.

Dorium started to walk towards the Monks as they stopped just outside the lights, "We don't have to fight. I'm friends to the Monks, they know me."

"Yeah, and they know you just sold them out to the Doctor," Rory reminded him.

"Oh, they'll understand. It's only me, only silly old me," he held his arms out wide, "You understand, don't you?"

"Mr. Maldovar, get back here!" Vastra shouted.

"Arm yourself, fool!" Strax called.

"Dorium!" both Rory and the Professor shouted.

But it was too late.

There was a slicing noise and something hit the floor.

"Mr. Maldovar?" Vastra asked cautiously.

"Dorium?" Rory tried.

Lorna returned, handing out the plasma pistols. They watched as the Monks walked closer, a headless Dorium walking ahead of them. The Professor's jaw tensed and she aimed a single blast of the plasma pistol, striking Dorium in the heart, he collapsed.

It was a mercy.

"The child!" Vastra shouted, "At all costs, protect the child!"

Rory drew his sword in one hand, a pistol in the other as the Professor stood at his side with her blaster and a plasma pistol, everyone readying themselves for battle.

"Keep in mind everyone," the Professor called, "Plasma pistols only pack ten rounds so aim careful," she checked her blaster, "And of course," she shook her head, "The battery  _would_  be low with no one to mind it," even if she had thought to use her blaster as a sonic disrupter before now it wouldn't have had enough power to cancel out the force field around the TARDIS.

Rory glanced at her, "What does that mean?"

She closed her blaster and looked up, "Means I'd best make every shot count doesn't it?" she aimed and fired, nine shots, taking out nine Monks before running forward, "I'll try to draw them away!" she shouted, taking a leap, managing to step on one of the Monk's shoulders and jump behind them, firing what was left of her blaster from behind, drawing a few back.

~8~

The Doctor slammed is hands down in anger, glaring at Kovarian as he shouted, "A child is not a weapon!"

She smirked, "And I suppose your Bonded is not a weapon either?" he tensed as Kovarian laughed, "She has proved to be the most exquisite example of a living weapon we have ever seen. Give us time and the child can be the same. Give us time and she will be."

"Except you've already lost her and I swear I will never let you anywhere near her again."

"Oh, Doctor. Fooling you once was a joy...but fooling you twice, the same way, it's a privilege."

The Doctor's eyes widened, realizing, "Amy...Amy!" he turned and ran out of the room.

~8~

The group fought valiantly as the Monks attacked, the Professor firing until her battery ran dry.

~8~

The Doctor ran through the halls, trying to get back to the hanger in time…

~8~

The Professor brought down her blaster onto one of the Monk's arms, managing to twist the sword out of its hand and slash it back.

~8~

' _Kata!_ ' the Doctor shouted desperately in his mind, ' _Kata!_ '

~8~

' _Theta?_ ' she called, trying to keep both focused on the battle and hearing the Doctor.

' _Amy!_ ' he shouted back at her, ' _It's not Melody!_ '

' _What do you mean?_ ' she asked, swinging the sword down at a Monk only to hear Lorna scream in pain behind her. She whirled around to see her struck by a bolt of energy as Strax himself was stabbed from behind.

~8~

' _Melody's a Flesh avatar!_ ' he called, racing down a corridor.

~8~

The Professor's eyes widened as she whirled around to the area where Amy had been hidden when…

"Rory!" Amy screamed, heartbroken, "RORY!"

And she knew…it was too late.

She watched as Rory ran off before closing her eyes in sorrow for her friends. The sounds of battle reached her, making her tense…

Her eyes snapped open and she turned, savagely slashing as many Monks as possible…

"Jenny get back!" Rory heard Vastra shout, "Leave this to her!"

He pulled Amy to her feet, helping her back to the group when he froze in shock and they saw  _exactly_  why the Professor had been deemed a weapon by her own people.

Amy though, was pulled into a memory…

~/~\~

_She stood in the nursery, holding Melody close to her as she looked out the window where Madame Kovarian was standing on top of a platform rigged up around the center of the hanger. The Professor was stationed between two soldiers, on her knees, chained up on a small platform that was hovering before Kovarian. The woman smirked and shouted out, "Bring them in," they watched from above as a small family, a woman and her husband and a little boy, were pushed into the ring._

_The Professor tensed as she watched them._

_Amy frowned as another noise filtered up to her, a strange sort of growling, but it wasn't animals._

_The Professor's eyes widened as she assessed the noise, "Don't you dare!" she turned to Kovarian._

_The woman just smirked, "Release them!" she ordered._

_Doors opened around the bottom of the platform and…_

" _Amy look away!" the Professor shouted._

_But Amy didn't, she didn't know what was happening…until she caught sight of the things let into the makeshift arena._

_They were people, savage people, dressed in tatters and bits of what looked like flesh stitched together. Growling, with sharp teeth, piercings…and then…they tore into the family. Amy gasped, tears in her eyes as she watched the animals literally tear the child apart before her eyes, beating the man and raping the woman before attempting to eat them. She felt sick and turned away but she could still hear the cries of the woman as she died and the horrible sound of feasting._

_When it fell silent she peeked out again to see the Professor glaring at Kovarian as she stepped onto the hovering platform. The two soldiers walked off to stand on her platform._

_Kovarian eyed the Professor a moment before nodding, "Yes, I'm certain they'll enjoy you as well," before stepping back and pressing a button on her command pad. Amy gasped as the Professor's bindings were released save the collar on her neck and the platform began to lower._

" _Professor!" she shouted, banging on the glass._

_The Professor looked up as the animalistic beings began to get agitated and excited at her descent, "Don't watch Amy," she said, "Please."_

_Amy shook her head, banging on the window, trying to break through to help her. But then…_

_She learned the Professor didn't need it._

_The woman leapt over the side of the platform, landing squarely on one of the creatures, taking him out. She quickly grabbed the thing's makeshift weapon, a sort of lead pipe with the end welded into a curve, and quickly moved to defend herself. Amy held her breath as she watched, praying the Professor would make it out alive._

_And she did._

_Beaten, bruised by the onslaught, but ultimately alive, having managed to either kill or knock out the things that had attacked the family. She expected Kovarian to be displeased by this but the woman was smiling, as though she'd won, as though everything had happened exactly as she wanted it to. Amy was confused, watching helplessly as two soldiers ran in and dragged the Professor out once more, other rushing to make sure the creatures were dead and finishing them off if they weren't._

_The doors opened behind her and the Professor was thrown into the room. She put Melody in the bassinette and ran to her friend's side, helping her up. She shakily sat her down and rushed around the room, trying to find first-aid supplies._

" _It's alright Amy," the Professor called._

" _No it's not, you're hurt!"_

" _Not the first time…"_

 _Amy winced at that. This_ wasn't _the first time Kovarian had brought in something for the Professor to fight, that was true. She'd been faced with battle robots, firing lasers and other weapons at her. She'd been thrown into a sparing ring with some of the top soldiers at the base, shocked if she tried to go for a kill shot, she was only allowed to hurt them. She'd even been surrounded by animals at one point, actual vicious animals. But she'd survived._

" _I'm so sorry," she breathed, walking over to the Professor's side, "This is all my fault."_

" _No, it isn't," the Professor reassured her, hugging her close so she could drop her voice, speaking as quietly as she could, "They want to test the limits of a Time Lord. What's more, they want to learn from what I can do."_

" _You mean…from the war?"_

_The Professor could only nod, at first she'd thought that she had simply been taken with Amy because she had been there at the same time, but once she'd been awoken and Kovarian began testing her, her limits, her endurance and reactions, she knew that the woman had also been hoping to capture her as well. She knew what was going on, the recording devices were hardly subtle when it came time to test her again. They wanted to learn, they wanted to make her the template for some sort of training program. She didn't know for who though, not yet._

_She pulled away to sit back down as Amy started to cry, thinking about what the Professor and Doctor had both been through, "What were those things?" she asked, moving to sit beside the Professor as the woman put her arm around her shoulders, those things were by far the_ worst _the Professor had dealt with._

_The Professor sighed, "Reavers."_

_Nothing else needed to be said._

_Amy understood exactly what they were just from seeing them, monsters._

~/~\~

As they watched, Amy realized the Professor had been holding back on those attacks, nothing she had shown Kovarian could compare to the massacre before them.

They watched as she practically danced through the Monks, swinging and slashing at them, one motion blending into the next fluidly. She leaned back, swinging her sword out in a circle, cutting through six Monks at once, she knelt on the ground, stabbing one behind her as she picked up two blades and it began again. She expertly shifted her fighting style to factor in the Monks being headless, aiming attacks at their limbs and chests. They watched as she cut down one after the other, turning to throw her second sword right into the chest of a Monk 20 feet away before turning and slashing another down. She cut one in half through the stomach, another from the groin to his head, she took on two at a time, expertly defending herself between them before twisting one's arm over her shoulder and turning, using it as a shield to block a deadly attack from the other before throwing it down and stabbing the Monk as well. She turned suddenly and stabbed a Monk that had been trying to sneak up on her through the gut, having heard him before turning and cutting the last Monk's arm off, kicking him firmly in the chest, knocking him down before twisting her blade to stab him in the heart.

She took a few breaths, standing stiffly as she looked at the bodies around her before turning to them, "Secure the perimeter!" she half barked at them.

Vastra and Jenny ran off to do just that while the Professor walked slowly over to Amy, covered in stains of blood, none of them her own, in fact, there wasn't really even a scratch on her. Rory tensed beside Amy, for the first time seeing the darkness in the Professor, for the first time actually afraid  _of_  her.

"Amy," she said, her voice softening.

Amy just fell into the girl's arms, clutching her as she sobbed, she didn't even mind that the Professor had just slaughtered all the Monks, that she was covered in the blood of their enemies, they deserved it and worse.

Rory looked around the room, his breath escaping him as he saw…

Not a single Monk was left standing.

~8~

The Doctor soniced the door, "Amy, she's not real! Melody…she's a Flesh avatar!" he pounded on another door till it opened, "Amy!" he ran in, stopping short to see the floor littered with the bodies of Headless Monks and Dorium, the fighting over.

"Yeah, we know," Rory said softly as he knelt by a dying Strax. The Doctor looked over to see Amy sitting on a crate, the Professor hugging her tightly as she wept.

"It's strange," Strax remarked, "I have often dreamed of dying in combat. I'm not enjoying it as much as I'd hoped."

"Come on, Strax, don't give up."

"It's alright, I've had a good life. I'm nearly 12."

"Listen to me. You'll be back on your feet in no time. You're a warrior!"

"Rory...I'm a nurse," he breathed before he succumbed to his wounds.

The Doctor walked over to the Professor who could only shake her head sadly at him, Amy was hurting, badly.

"So they took her anyway," Amy whimpered, "All this was for nothing."

"I am so...sorry," the Doctor reached forward to put a hand on her shoulder but she flinched away.

"Amy...it's not his fault," Jenny told her softly.

Amy cried, "I know, I know."

"It's my fault," the Professor shook her head.

"Professor…" Rory began shaking his head as well.

"It is," she looked up at him, "I should have scanned her, I would have known she was Flesh, but I didn't think…" she swallowed hard and Rory nodded. She got up and he took her place beside Amy.

"Doctor, Professor, there's someone who wants to speak to you," Vastra called as they walked over to where Lorna was sitting against a wall, her hands pressed to a wound in her stomach, "Her name is Lorna, she came to warn us."

The Doctor pulled out his sonic, moving to scan Lorna but the Professor shook her head, putting her hand on Lorna's, scanning her, as the girl gently woke up.

' _It's too late,_ ' she whispered to him, ' _She has seconds._ '

"Hey," the Doctor swallowed hard as he forced himself to smile, "Hello."

"Doctor!" Lorna brightened up.

"You helped our friends, thank you."

"I met you once. In the Gamma Forests. You don't remember me."

He blinked, searching his mind for the memory, when one was pushed in front of his eyes. He turned to the Professor, smiling thankfully at her, before turning back to Lorna, remembering her now, "Hey, of course I remember," he reached out and took her hand, "I remember everyone. Hey, we ran, you and me and the Professor! Didn't we run, Lorna?"

"Yeah…" she breathed, nodding, till her eyes fluttered shut.

" _S_ he was very brave," Vastra commented.

"They're always brave," the Professor sighed.

"So, what now?" she asked as the Professor helped the Doctor to his feet, "They'd almost certainly have taken her to Earth, raise her in the correct environment."

"Yes, they did," he nodded, thinking of the little girl in the astronaut suit, "And it's already too late," he turned and walked off, the Professor's hand still in his own.

The Professor blinked and tugged him back to face her, "Are you…giving up?  _You_? You  _never_  do that."

"Don't you sometimes wish I did?" he sighed.

"I didn't give up during training," she reminded him, letting him feel the vague remnants of hope she'd had that if she pushed through she could see him again, "So don't you dare give up in this."

He smiled at her softly when there was a flash of light and a clap of energy and River appeared, smiling at them, "Well, then, soldier, sergeant, how goes the day?"

"Where the hell have you been?" the Doctor glared at her, "Every time you've asked, we have been there. Where the hell were you today?"

"I couldn't have prevented this."

"You could've tried!"

The Professor eyed River a moment. The few times she'd been allowed to hold the real Melody had confirmed what she'd already been suspicious of.

"And so, my loves, could you," she glanced at Amy and Rory, "I know you're not alright. But hold tight, Amy, because you're going to be."

"You think we wanted this?" he gestured wildly, "We didn't do this. This...this wasn't us!"

"This was exactly you," she scoffed, "All this, all of it. You two make them so afraid. When you began, all those years ago Doctor, sailing off to see the Universe, even before then when you were planning out your adventures together, did you ever think you'd become this? The man who can turn an army around at the mention of his name just like the Professor? Doctor, the word for 'healer' and 'wise man' throughout the Universe, we get that word from you, you know. Just as we get Professor from her, 'advisor,' 'teacher.' But if you two carry on the way you are, what might those words come to mean? To the people of the Gamma Forests, the word 'Doctor' means 'mighty warrior,' 'Professor' means 'deadly weapon.' How far you've come…and now they've taken a child...the child of your best friends...and they're going to turn her into a weapon, just to bring you both down. And all this, my loves...in fear of you."

"Who are you?"

"Oh, look, your cot!" River said lightly, "Haven't seen that in a very long while," she backed up to it.

"No, no, you tell us," the Doctor advanced on her with the Professor, "Tell us...who you are!"

The Professor smiled and put a hand on his shoulder, drawing his attention, "She  _is_  telling us," she turned and put a hand on the side of the cot, looking down pointedly at the Prayer Leaf lying inside it.

"Can't you read?" River rolled her eyes at him.

He blinked, looking down at the Gamma Forest's substitution for 'pond,' and looked at River, startled, "Hello."

"Hello," River laughed, the Professor shaking her head at him.

"But...but that means..."

"I'm afraid it does."

The Professor glanced at Amy and Rory and back, "I see it now."

"Oh yes."

The Doctor looked back at Amy and Rory, seeing it too. The flirty disposition, the shade of hair…it all made sense. He quickly straightened his tie and looked at River, "How do I look?"

River turned to the Professor and they both said, "Amazing."

He grinned, "I'd better be."

"Yes, you'd better be," River agreed.

The Professor spun around, "Vastra and Jenny, till the next time."

"Rory and Amy, we'll find your daughter and on our  _lives_ , she will be safe," the Doctor added.

"River," the Professor smirked as they headed for the TARDIS, "Get them all home."

"Professor?" Rory frowned, "Doctor?"

"No!" Amy shouted, "Where are you going? No!"

The Doctor pulled out the sonic and disabled the force field, the two of them rushing into it and shutting the door behind them, quickly disappearing, their only regret being that they wouldn't be there to see Amy and Rory's faces when River told them she was their daughter Melody.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did anyone get chills when the Doctor's darkness started to rear its head a bit? I did. I love picturing him as this child-like, energetic, forgiving optimist...but when someone tries anything with the Professor, that whole persona is gone and the Oncoming Storm comes out, living up to his name in the fullest. -Shivers- It's like how the Professor can be so excited and ready for adventure, having a merry old time, but threaten the Doctor and out comes the soldier.
> 
> I added in the little part where the Professor remembers Lorna because I'm not sure if they mention or address whether the Doctor truly did forget about Lorna (when he asked who she was) or if he just hadn't met her yet in his timeline. I got the impression that he had forgotten and that made me feel so bad for her that I figured, the Professor has a slightly better memory than the Doctor (having helped him memorize the names of the stars) so she would be the one to remember and help him remember too.
> 
> Next chapter will have a move the 9th Professor enjoyed doing, a little explanation as to why River looks the way she does now, as well as a small scene inspired by the movie The Young Victoria :)
> 
> Anyone catch the Firefly/Serenity reference?


	11. Let's Kill Hitler

The Professor and the Doctor stood, leaning against the TARDIS, in the middle of a giant crop circle, watching as an old orange car sped towards them through the cornfield, before stopping at the edge of their circle. The Professor sighed and straightened the collar on the Doctor's new, long, three-quarters length, coat.

The Doctor waited till Amy and Rory got out of the car before holding up an old newspaper titled 'Leadworth's Crop Circles' and pointed at it, "Seriously?" they had spelled out Doctor in cursive in the cornfield.

"Well you never answer your phone," Rory remarked.

"Blame him," the Professor stepped up, "He was trying to 'fix' the console and ended up cutting the cord to the answer phone, we haven't gotten any calls in nearly three months."

"You've had all summer," Amy walked over to them with Rory, "Have you found her? Have you found Melody?"

"Permission?" the Doctor looked at Rory as he handed him the newspaper.

"Granted," Rory sighed, walking off.

The Doctor and Professor hugged her tightly, "You know who she grows up to be," she whispered in Amy's ear.

"So you know, we WILL find her," the Doctor agreed.

Amy pulled away a bit, "But you haven't yet."

"Hang on, what's this bit?" Rory called. They walked over to see a line cutting straight through the writing towards the circle the TARDIS had created in the second O.

"That wasn't us."

The Doctor snatched the paper and looked at it, holding it up as he moved around, trying to find the right direction, "Uh…no I don't…"

"Left," the Professor called

He turned to the left and stopped, the three gathering around him, only to hear an engine approaching. The Doctor lowered the paper to see a bright red sports car heading towards them. They gave a shout and dove to the sides, Amy and Rory one way, the Doctor and Professor the other. The car swerved, skidding to a stop just a few inches away from the corner of the TARDIS. A lovely black woman around Amy and Rory's age stepped out, in black boots, tights, and leather vest with a black and pink dress, looking down at them, "You said they were funny. You never said  _he_  was hot."

"Mels!" Rory got up, heading over to the woman with Amy.

"What are you doing here?" Amy asked.

"Following you," she replied, "What'd you think?"

The Doctor moved to pop up when a hand appeared in his face. He looked up to see the Professor already on her feet and took it, the woman helping him up.

"Um, where did you get the car?" Rory pointed at it.

"It's mine…" Mels replied…when sirens echoed to them, "Ish."

The Professor had to smile at that, "Been there before," the Doctor nodded, he couldn't really complain either, the TARDIS being right behind them…stolen as well.

"Oh Mels not again," Amy groaned.

"You can't keep doing this, you're going to end up in prison," Rory added.

"And there," the Professor nodded. The Doctor looked at her, slightly shocked.

' _When was that?_ ' he whispered to her in her mind.

She gave him a grin, ' _Remember when we wanted to try and get some practice in with a TARDIS before the exams?_ '

' _Yes, but…you said…_ ' his eyes widened.

They'd nearly gotten caught on their way back as they parked the TARDIS they'd 'borrowed,' she'd told him to run one way as she went the other. Apparently though, he now realized, she'd gotten caught. So  _that_  was why she'd been late to class the next day. He shook his head, feeling slightly guilty about her getting in trouble when it had been his idea in the first place.

The Professor nudged him a bit, ' _It was worth it though,_ ' she grinned so widely and he couldn't help but return it.

He shook his head and looked over to the girl, Mels. They still had no idea who she was or why she'd stolen a car though, so he decided to cut into her reunion, "Sorry!" he looked at Mels, "Hello," and back to Amy, "Doctor not following this, Doctor very lost. You never said I was hot?"

The Professor rolled her eyes, "Of course, he focuses on the hot part and not the funny bit."

"Well," he looked at her, "I'm hoping for a chance to be very clever, very soon, in which case I will be very hot so it stands to reason that it would be more relevant than being funny yes?"

The Professor looked at him, slightly impressed, "Using logic against me hmm?" he grinned, especially when she draped her arms around his neck, giving him a little peck, "I'll make a decent soldier out of you yet."

"Is that the phone box?" Mels cut in, pointing at the TARDIS behind them, "The bigger-on-the-inside phone box?" the Doctor pointed at her, confused, as Mels stepped beside them and looked at it, "Oh, time travel," she turned to lean on it, "That is just brilliant!" the Doctor and Professor moved to the corner, facing her as she looked at them, the Professor with her back resting against the Doctor's chest as he wound an arm around her waist, "Yeah, I've heard a lot about you two. I'm their best mate."

"Then why don't we know you?" he asked, "I danced with everyone at the wedding."

"As much as I  _begged_  him not to," the Professor remarked.

"The women were all brilliant, the men were a bit shy," he continued, ignoring her, "And, as always, you," he looked at her, "Were fantastic," he quickly pecked her on the temple, making her smile.

"I don't do weddings," Mels turned and walked a few feet away, stopping when the sirens started up again, "And that's me, out of time," she turned and aimed a gun at the Doctor, only for the Professor to step up, more in front of him and aim her own blaster in return, just as quickly.

"Mels!" Amy gasped.

"For God's sake…" Rory shook his head.

"What are you doing?"

"I need out of here now," Mels replied, her eyes carefully trained on the Professor, Amy had mentioned the woman wore a gun on her belt…

"Anywhere in particular?" the Doctor asked, putting a hand on the Professor's shoulder, trying to get her to relax. He didn't think she would  _actually_ shoot the woman before them, however, if the woman fired first…especially at him...he knew she wouldn't hesitate to return fire. Not that he could really blame her, what happened at Demons Run had been enough proof to him that he wouldn't hesitate to do whatever it took to protect her.

' _I feel the same,_ ' she whispered to him in his mind, stepping back to rest against him, though not lowering her blaster in the slightest.

"Let's see…you've got a time machine," Mels smirked, "And the two of us have got guns. What the hell, let's kill Hitler!"

~8~

The Professor and the Doctor were frantically piloting the TARDIS when a shot rang out and everything erupted into mass chaos. Steam shot out from the hole now in the rotor as the lights turned red and gas invaded the room.

"You shot it!" the Professor gagged as she pulled a lever, trying to cut off the gas while the Doctor examined the bullet hole.

"You shot my TARDIS!"

" _Our_  TARDIS," the Professor corrected, she'd noticed when the Doctor got upset or found himself in an upsetting situation, he tended to slip up and call the TARDIS 'his.'

' _Oh I call more than just the TARDIS mine,_ ' he reminded her, making her blush, not that anyone could notice with the red lights.

' _Possessive eh?_ ' she asked.

He turned, about to answer, when he caught sight of Mels trying to hold onto the railing by the steps, Amy and Rory struggling to use the console for support, perhaps an injured and shot TARDIS wasn't the  _best_  place to be flirting, they really would have to start working on restraining themselves a bit more, work on their self control.

' _You?_ ' the Professor spoke to him again, ' _Have self control? Ha! You're like a child in a sweet shop. If I didn't stop you half the time you'd over eat on Jelly Babies and end up in a sugar induced coma...again!_ '

' _That only happened once!_ ' he whined. She gave him a pointed look, ' _Alright, alright, three times! But they're SO good Kata!_ '

' _You and your sweets,_ ' she rolled her eyes.

He just moved closer to her, a small smirk on his face, ' _They aren't the only sweet thing I like,_ ' he gave her a look, his gaze dropping to her lips a moment, making her blush even more and him grin. Kissing her was truly better than any sugar rush he'd ever had.

"Doctor!" Amy shouted as the TARDIS jolted.

He winced, shaking his head, this really  _wasn't_  the best time, and turned to Mels, "You shot the console!"

"It's her fault!" Mels yelled to him, nodding at the Professor

"How's it HER fault?"

"She said guns didn't work in this place. She said we're in a state of temporal grace!"

The Doctor rolled his eyes and moved back to the console, "Oh that was a clever lie you idiot. Anyone could tell that was a clever lie."

"Hang on!" the Professor shouted as they TARDIS began to spin crazily. There was a jolt and she watched as they crashed through a window on the monitor and ended up half buried in the wall at the side of a room, "Out!" she shouted, tossing the Doctor a hanky to cover his nose and mouth with, "Move!"

They started ushering the three others out of the box, "Out, out, out!" the Doctor pushed the door open and stepped out, "Everybody out!" Rory, Amy, and Mels ran out, the Professor last, "Don't breathe the smoke just get out."

"Where are we?" Amy groaned.

"A room," the Doctor replied as the Professor froze and looked around at all the swastikas on the walls.

"What room?" Rory asked.

"I don't know what room, I haven't memorized every room in the Universe yet. I had yesterday off…"

"Mels!" the Professor pushed her away from the TARDIS door, taking the gun from her as well, "Don't go in there!"

"Oi!" Mels glared as the gun was wrenched away from her.

"Don't breathe the bad, bad smoke," the Doctor agreed with her, "Bad, deadly smoke," he looked at Mels angrily, "Because somebody shot my TARDIS!"

" _Our_  TARDIS," the Professor reminded him as Mels walked off in a huff.

"Doctor, Professor," Rory called from where he was kneeling beside an older man in glasses lying on the floor, stiff as a board, "This guy, I think he's hurt…" Amy knelt down beside him as the Doctor and Professor looked over, "No wait, hold on," he leaned forward, "He's fine."

The Professor turned and, with a subtle glance at the Doctor, slipped the clip out of the gun and tossed it to him, pocketing the clip. He nodded, putting the gun in a fruit bowl on the desk in the back of the room.

"Oh!" the Doctor's eyes widened as a man behind the desk stood up, "Hello! Sorry is this your office?" Amy and Rory stood up as well, "Had a sort of collision with my vehicle. Faults on both sides, let's say no more about…" and the man turned around to reveal himself to be none other than Adolf Hitler, "…it…"

Amy and Rory stepped up to their sides, stunned, "Is that…" Amy breathed, "No, it can't be. Doctor…"

"Thank you, whoever you are," Hitler turned to them, "I think you have just saved my life."

"…believe me, it was an accident," the Doctor told him.

"What is this thing?" Hitler asked, spotting the TARDIS and walking over to it.

"What did he mean we just saved his life?" Amy moved in front of the Doctor and Professor with Rory, "We cannot have just saved Hitler."

"Technically it's 1938," the Professor remarked, looking around, "He's not meant to die for another seven years."

The Doctor turned and stormed over toward Mels, "You see! You see, time travel. It never goes to plan," Mels just rolled her eyes.

"This box, what is it?" Hitler asked.

"It's a police telephone box from London, England," he turned around and walked towards him, "That's right Adolf, the British are coming."

Hitler's eyes widened, seeing the man on the ground stand, "No!" he cried, "Stop him!" he pulled his pistol and fired at the man, the Professor half tackling, half shoving the Doctor out of the way as Rory moved to punch Hitler, grabbing the gun, and aiming it at him instead.

"Sit still," he cocked it as Hitler put his hands up, "Shut up."

"Are you ok?" Amy ran to the man's side, helping him.

"Yes, yes I'm fine," he replied, "I think he missed."

"He was going to kill me!" Hitler shouted.

"Shut up Hitler!" Rory snapped.

"Rory take Hitler and put him in that cupboard over there," the Professor turned to Rory.

"Now," the Doctor agreed when Rory hesitated, "Do it."

"Right…" he nodded, "Putting Hitler in the cupboard…" he hauled Hitler up and dragged him a few feet away to a cupboard, muttering all the while, "Cupboard, Hitler. Hitler, cupboard…"

"But I am the fuhrer!" Hitler exclaimed.

"Right, in you go," he shoved him in.

"Who are you?" Hitler shouted but Rory simply shut the door in his face before turning to drop the gun on a chair nearby.

"Are you ok?" the Doctor asked as he and the Professor closely examined the Nazi who had been shot at.

"Oh…" the man began, "I…" and then he fainted backwards, right onto the ground. Amy gasped and knelt beside him, checking him, while the Doctor, Professor, and Rory looked on.

"I think he just fainted," Rory commented.

"Yes that was a faint," the Doctor agreed, "Perfect faint."

The Professor leaned over and looked at the man, "Yes, but was it a faint or feint?" she wondered aloud.

Amy sighed and stood up, glancing past the Doctor when Mels caught her eye, "Mels?"

They looked back to see the woman clutching her side, "Hitler…"

"What about him?" the Doctor asked.

"Lousy shot," she breathed before collapsing onto the ground.

"Mels?" Amy ran over, "Mels!"

"Rory!" the Doctor shouted as they ran as well, all coming to kneel around the woman. Amy on her left, Rory on her right, the Doctor before her while the Professor leaned over between him and Amy.

"No, no, no, no, no, we've got to stop the bleeding," Rory checked her wound.

"How bad is it?" Amy looked at Rory, "Rory what can we do?"

"Just keep her conscious. Stay with us Mels."

"Hey, look at me," the Doctor tried to distract her, "Just hold on."

"I used to dream about you…all those stories Amy used to tell me," Mels admitted, "Of the two of you and that box."

"What stories? Tell me what stories. Vampires in Venice, that's a belter."

"When I was little. I was gonna marry you."

He gave her a sad smile, "Sorry, bit late."

She laughed a little, "I noticed," she glanced at his hand with the wedding ring on it, "Besides, don't really do weddings, all that pomp and traditions, like asking my parents' permission…"

"Mels," Amy began sadly, knowing Mels parents had died when she was little and she lived with guardians when they were younger.

"Amy," Mels smiled at her, "My parents didn't die…"

"What?"

"They're both right here," the Professor said softly from behind them.

The Doctor looked at her sharply, ' _What?_ '

' _The core strand of baby Melody's Time Lord DNA,_ ' she began quietly to him, ' _The core strand of our DNA, the strand that is conducive only to us, to the set of our parents DNA that produced our original selves…_ '

' _What about it?_ '

' _With a human, it's not a random pick of DNA from their previous regenerations, it's just their two sets,_ ' she glanced at Mels, ' _Amy and Rory._ '

He looked between Amy and Rory, stunned, and then back at Mels, his eyes wide.

"Penny in the air," Mels smirked, her hands starting to glow, "Penny drops."

The Doctor backed away.

"What the hell is going on?" Rory asked.

"Get back," the Professor grabbed his arm and pulled him away, tugging Amy as well as the Doctor was still shocked.

Mels stood and looked at her hands, "Last time I did this I ended up a toddler in the middle of New York…" she backed up to the center of the room.

"Ok, Doctor, Professor, explain what is happening," Amy looked at them, "Please!"

"Mels," the Doctor began, snapping himself out of it, "Short for…"

"Melody," Mels nodded.

"Yeah, I named my daughter after her…" Amy nodded.

"You named your daughter…after your daughter," the Doctor explained as Rory looked at them, shocked.

"It took me years to find you two," Mels smiled at them, "But I'm so glad I did. And you see. It all worked out in the end didn't it? You got to raise me after all."

"You're Melody?" Amy breathed.

"But…if she's Melody that means that she's also…" Rory began.

"Oh shut up dad," Mels cut in, "I'm focusing on a dress size…" she threw her arms and head back with a scream, regenerating. The Doctor pulled Rory and Amy back, ducking down by the desk while the Professor made a break for the chair by the cupboard.

Mels shook violently, not really focusing on a dress size, but more of a desire to prove to her parents that she  _was_  their daughter, to look like them, as a normal child would have...and soon enough, with a gasp, River Song stood before them, "Oh, right," she breathed, not even noticing the Professor skid to the ground by Amy, "Let's see then…" she began to pat herself down, examining herself, "Oh, it's all going on down there isn't it?" they started to get up, "Hair!" she felt her hair, "The hair!" and ran to a mirror by the cupboard to look for herself, "It just doesn't stop does it? Look at that! Everything changes! Oh, but I love it! I love it!" she spun around to face them, "I'm all sort of…mature…" she put her leg on a fallen table, "Hello Benjamin!"

The Doctor shook his head, whispering to them, "Who's Benjamin?"

Melody clicked her teeth, "The teeth!" she spun around, feeling them with her fingers, "The teeth! The teeth! Oh!" she turned and ran towards them, "Oh, look at them!" she pushed the Doctor back onto the desk, standing in between his legs as the Professor moved to his side, "Watch out that bow tie!" she spun around to her parents, "Excuse me you lot, I need to weigh myself!" and ran off out a side door.

Slowly they turned and moved to sit on the desk, Amy and Rory on either side of the Doctor as the Professor walked behind the desk, looking at the room some more.

"That's…Melody…" Amy shook her head.

"That's River Song," Rory breathed.

Melody appeared in the doorway, her hand on her hip, "Who's River Song?"

They all looked over at her, when the Doctor offered, "…spoilers?"

"Spoilers? What's spoilers?" she felt her bum, "Hang on, just something I have to check…" and ran out of the room again.

"Does anybody else find this day just a bit difficult?" Rory asked, "I'm getting this sort of banging in my head…"

"Yeah, I think that's Hitler in the cupboard," Amy remarked.

"That's not helping."

"This isn't the River Song we know yet," the Professor said, walking around the desk and moving to the center of the room where the Doctor came to join her, Amy and Rory following, "This is her right at the start…" she looked at the Doctor meaningfully.

He nodded, "Doesn't even know her name…"

"OH!" Melody called, "That's magnificent!" they turned around slowly to see her appear in the doorway again, "I'm gonna wear lots of jumpers!"she eyed them a moment, "Well now, enough of all that," she whipped out Hitler's revolver and aimed it at the Doctor and Professor, who had yet to pull out her blaster for some reason, "Down to business."

"Oh, hello, I thought you wanted to marry me?" the Doctor asked her calmly as Amy and Rory took an instinctive step back, the Professor just standing beside him, eyeing Melody.

Melody walked closer, "I told you, I'm not a wedding person."

"Doctor what's she doing?" Rory asked.

"What she's programmed to," the Professor replied carefully.

"But where'd she get the gun?"

"Hello Benjamin."

The Doctor glanced over at the chair where the revolver had been sitting, where River had examined herself.

"You noticed," Melody nodded, "Of course you would, pity," she quickly tried to fire but nothing came out.

"You really think I didn't pull my blaster for no reason?" the Professor asked her, "Honestly Melody, your parentage means nothing to me, I wouldn't hesitate to kill Amy or Rory if they tried to hurt the Doctor," she glanced back at them, "No offense."

"None taken," Rory nodded, understanding what it felt like to want to protect your spouse from danger, Amy nodded as well.

"I emptied the revolver as you were regenerating. As soon as I knew you were coming, and I KNEW you were coming."

Melody glared at her, "How?"

"The core strand of a Time Lord's DNA is us, that combination specific to our parents and the combination of their regenerative DNA that produces our original selves, humans only have one set, I scanned you when I grabbed the gun from you, caught it, knew who you were," she walked towards her, "I tidied up a bit."

Melody dropped the gun, "I know you did," she grabbed the gun she'd nicked from the fruit bowl out of her vest and aimed it at her.

"I know you know," she smirked down at the banana in Melody's hand, "Really? Complimenting his bow tie? That was a dead giveaway, you need to work on your divertive tactics, what would the Silence think about that?"

Melody's jaw tensed, "Goodness…is killing you going to take all day?" she tossed the banana at them, using that as a distraction to turn and look at the desk, grabbing a letter opener subtly.

"Why?" the Doctor asked, finding the Professor constantly one-upping the woman highly amusing, "You busy?"

"Oh, I'm not complaining," she turned, trying to slash them with the opener but the Professor had already had her blaster out and aimed, firing at the metal with enough force to knock it out of Melody's hands.

"If you were in a hurry you could have killed us in the cornfield," the Professor remarked, blowing on the end of her blaster and putting it away, "Always take your shot," she remarked, as though reciting a lesson, "Never hesitate."

"We'd only just met! I'm a psychopath," she turned back to the fruit bowl as they walked back towards Amy and Rory, "Not rude," she grabbed the actual gun this time and spun around firing at them. Amy and Rory ducked down as the Professor turned and held up the clip.

"Melody," the Professor shook her head, "Do you  _really_  think I'd let them teach you what  _I_  know?" she sighed, "I held back, quite a lot, thank you very much."

Melody's eyes widened at that. She'd been told that everything she'd learned, from weapons to combat had been from research on the Professor during her time in captivity. But here was the woman herself saying that she'd basically given them nothing. No matter what she did, the Professor, who was always a step ahead, would now and forever be two steps ahead because she'd ensured the Silence would raise their own weapon one step behind.

"You are  _not_  a psychopath!" Amy walked to their side, "Why would she be a psychopath?"

"Oh, mummy, mummy pay attention," Melody walked forward, circling the room with the Doctor and Professor, "I was trained and conditioned for one purpose. I was born to kill the Doctor and Professor."

The Professor looked at Amy, "Demons Run."

"This is what they were building," the Doctor nodded, turning to face Melody, "Our bespoke psychopath."

Melody smirked, "I'm all yours sweetie," and moved to kiss him.

The Professor just pulled him back, "Poison of the Judas Tree," she smirked as Melody's eyes widened, shocked, "I can smell that a mile away," she crinkled her nose, the Doctor laughing and kissing her nose quickly. The Professor smiled at him and snatched the hanky she'd tossed him from his pocket, reaching out to wipe Melody's lips, "Oh Melody, Melody, Melody, you need to work on your assassination techniques as well, take it from a professional."

The Doctor tensed just a bit at the words, the war had really been hell on Gallifrey. Some Academics, the more promising ones, were sent out to different planets, to those who seemed sympathetic to the Daleks or who were just natrual enemies of the Time Lords, and were to take out the leaders of the planets, quietly, subtly…assassinations.

"Oh sweetums, I've got plenty of tricks up my sleeves," Melody tried to play off her concern.

This was another advantage the Professor had given herself, she was realizing, all the footage from Demons Run before the Doctor had arrived had portrayed the Professor fighting, but barely making it out alive. She had surpassed human standards of fighting and endurance, and with the little that was known about exactly what the Professor's best efforts had been, they had assumed her fighting there  _was_  her at her best. What reason did she have not to fight as hard as she could? And there in lay the genius. The Professor had given them a false estimate of her abilities, leading them to believe her best was what they'd seen when in reality it was far from it. It had made her overconfident, she realized now, made her think she might be able to one-up the woman...all that they had learned about the Professor had left them believing they knew her when, in fact, they were underestimating her true potential...

The Doctor took the Professor's hand, "And only River Song gets to call us that."

"And who's River Song?" Melody looked up, shaking herself from her thoughts. Knowing what she knew now, she would have to be on her guard. There was only one more trick she could use before she'd have to retreat.

"An old friend of ours."

"Stupid name," she turned and walked to the window, looking out, "Oh! Look at that! Berlin on the eve of war…" the Professor frowned, the sudden shift in focus and subject...it was a distractive tactic, she was planning something, "A whole world about to tear itself apart," she turned to them, "Now that's my kind of town."

"What are you planning Melody?" the Professor asked her, eyeing her carefully, tensing, ready. Melody just reached into her boot and pulled out a small gun that looked like a dart gun and aimed it right at the Professor, "Oh, are we testing my reflexes now?"

"Well…" Melody began slowly, "I've seen  _your_  reflexes," even at her worst she knew the dart gun would be useless against the Professor, "I know you're too fast for this dart to hit  _you_ …" the Professor frowned, sensing something, "So…how fast is  _he_?" she turned the gun on the Doctor and fired.

But, as she had said only moments ago, the Professor really was too fast…she dove in the way of the dart, getting hit in the neck instead of the Doctor. Melody smirked, obviously having expected that.

The Professor pulled the dart out of her neck and glared at Melody, already feeling the Judas Tree's poison in her system.

"And now the deed is done," Melody smiled, "And so are you."

The Professor grabbed her neck with one hand, clutching her chest with the other, and screwing her eyes shut to try and find the poison, control her body to isolate it for now, "What was that?" Amy asked as she and Rory ran to her side.

"What have you done?" the Doctor looked at Melody, glaring, "River…"

"Oh, River, River, River…more than a friend I think…" Melody smirked.

"What have you done?" he shouted as the Professor nearly collapsed.

"It was never going to be a gun for either of you Doctor. The man of peace and the woman of war," she smirked at the Professor, "Who understands every kind of warfare even the cruelest."

The Doctor looked down, realizing the Professor  _knew_  that Melody was going to fire at him, knew that the dart was full of some sort of poison, and had jumped in its path anyway.

' _Of course I did,_ ' the Professor's voice came to him, strained even in his mind, ' _I will_ never _let anything hurt you Theta, not if I have the ability to stop it._ '

He turned to glare at Melody but she just blew them a kiss and hopped down out of the window.

"What's wrong with you?" Rory asked the Professor, "What has she done to you?"

"The poison of the Judas Tree," she ground out, wincing, "She's poisoned me, but...I'm fine."

"You're dying!" the Doctor felt his hearts freeze. The Professor  _never_  lied to him about how she was doing unless it was  _really_  bad.

"But, unlike you, I've got a plan. Thinking fast, that's me."

"What plan?"

"Not dying," she managed to joke.

"Ok, what do we do?" Rory asked as the Professor tried to push herself up, "How do we help you?"

The Professor reached into the Doctor's jacket and pulled out the sonic, handing it to Amy, "Take this, the TARDIS can home in on it," and then ushered Rory out, "Now go, get after her."

Rory nodded, trusting the Professor's plan, and ran to the window as Amy moved to help the Doctor support her to the TARDIS, "You said the smoke was deadly!" Amy reminded them.

"The poison will kill me first," the Professor struggled.

"Now get after River!" the Doctor pushed Amy away.

"Melody," the Professor corrected, "Not River yet."

"I don't understand ok," Amy looked at the Doctor, "One minute she's gonna marry  _you_  and then she's gonna kill the Professor…" she shook her head.

"Ah well, she's been brainwashed, it makes sense to her, plus she's a woman," the Doctor shrugged.

"Oh, shut up," the Professor groaned, pushing herself into the TARDIS and yanking the Doctor in after her, before shutting the door on Amy, "Extractor fans on!"

The fans started up and the smoke cleared, "Oh!" the Doctor looked around, surprised, "That works?"

"Later," the Professor groaned, "Help me sit."

He put an arm around her and led her over to the console floor, setting her down gently and sitting behind her to stabilize her, "Ok, you're shutting down…going to need an interface…"

"Voice interface," the Professor called out, she was in too much pain to really think right now. She just needed someone to analyze the poison, think for her so she could have just a moment free from the pain to truly focus on blocking out the poison.

"Come on," the Doctor shouted, it was wasting time, "Emergency!"

A hologram of the Professor appeared, "No, no, someone else!" it shifted to Donna, "Oh, guilt, wonderful," and then to Martha, "And more guilt," and then to Rose, "Let me see someone I  _like_!" the hologram shifted to the Doctor.

"No, no. Not me."

It started to shift to Amy when the Professor shook her head, "No, go back to him," and it shifted back to the Doctor.

"Kata…"

"I'm dying Theta and if  _that_  is the last face I get to see…" she smiled at him, "What a way to go, eh?"

He shook his head but let the hologram remain.

"Voice interface enabled," his holographic self said.

The Professor laughed, "Technobabble, that's you alright."

"I am not the Doctor, I am a voice interface."

"I know."

"I am not the Doctor, I am a voice interface."

"And not listening, exactly you," she shook her head, "So, poison from the Judas Tree, I've got what? 30 minutes? 31 minutes?"

"Your system has been contaminated by the poison of the Judas Tree. You will be dead in 32 minutes."

She gripped her neck as the Doctor tightened his hold around her, "Ok, so, basically, better regenerate that's what you're saying?" he asked.

"Can't," she groaned.

"Regeneration disabled," the interface agreed, "She will be dead in 32 minutes."

"Unless she's cured yeah?" he asked, hopeful.

"None," she stated.

"There is no cure. She will be dead in 32 minutes."

"Why do you keep saying that?" he looked between both of them, annoyed that they both seemed to accept the fact that she was dying and there wasn't anything he could do.

"Because it's true."

"Because she will be dead in 32 minutes."

"Ha, ha, but there you see, basically skipping 31 whole minutes where you're absolutely fine," he looked at her.

She nodded, "If I can isolate the poison, I might be able to hold the effects off for just a little. I…"

"Will be fine for 31 minutes," the interface, finished her sentence, "You will be dead in 32 minutes."

"Ok…now  _that_  was spooky," she looked at the Doctor, "He's starting to act like you."

The Doctor shook his head, "River needs us," he looked at her, "She's only just beginning. You can't die now."

"I will not die  _now_ …" she said at the same time as the hologram stated, "She will not die now."

"She will be dead in 32 minute," it finished.

The Professor screamed and grabbed her chest, curling up in his arms, "Professor!"

She groaned, "Doctor…" she breathed as he squeezed her tightly, the hologram speaking again.

"I am not the Doctor I am a voice interface."

"I get it."

"I am not the Doctor I am a voice interface."

"I know!"

"I am not the Doctor I am a voice interfa…"

She kicked the bottom of the console, cutting off the hologram.

"And you tell  _me_  not to hit the console," he remarked softly, brushing some hair from her face.

"I'm dying," she shrugged, "I've got an excuse."

"What do we do?"

She groaned a moment, scrunching her eyes shut, "I'm going to try and block the poison, contain it inside me for as long as I can and hope it sticks."

"What can I do?"

"Just…get the TARDIS to find Melody, we need to help her…that training…" she swallowed hard, empathizing, "It's not her fault."

He nodded, kissing her forehead before getting up and pulling a lever, sending the TARDIS flying.

~8~

The Doctor and Professor silently piloted the TARDIS to the location the sonic was signaling them from, some sort of restaurant. They set down, looking out at the monitor to see Melody, standing before a mirror, trying on various clothes while Amy, standing far too stiffly and emotionless to really be her, was behind her.

"You killed the Professor," Amy stated.

"Oh, yes, I know dear," Melody replied, "I hope you're not going to keep on about it," she put on a captain's hat, "Oh, regeneration. It's a whole new coloring to work with," only to take it off and primp her hair a bit.

Amy moved to stand before the mirror and look at her, "You killed the Professor on the orders of the movement known as the Silence and Academy of the Question. You accept and know this to be true?"

The Doctor and Professor exchanged a look at that before quickly making their way out of the TARDIS as Melody spoke again, "Quite honestly I don't really remember. It was all a bit of a jumble," suddenly Amy shoved the mirror away and shot a beam of light out of her mouth, striking Melody, making her stumble back in pain, "No! Get off me!"

"Sorry," the Professor called. Amy stopped and turned to face them as Melody looked on, stunned, "Did you say she killed the Professor?"

The Doctor looked up from where they were leaning against the TARDIS, "The Professor? Professor of what?"

Melody stared at them, at the Professor, "You're dying…and you stopped to change?"

And indeed they had. The Doctor was now dressed in his black suit with a top hat and cane, much like what he wore to Amy's wedding, though without the white effects, while the Professor was dressed in black pants but with a blue shirt and black vest.

The Doctor turned and played with his cane a bit, "Oh you should always waste time when you don't have any. Time is not the boss of you..." he smiled at the Professor, trying his hardest to pretend everything would be alright, "Though the Professor is."

"Rule 408," the Professor nodded as they made their way to Amy. She reached out and touched Amy's cheek a moment.

"Amelia Pond," the Doctor looked at her as well, "Judgment death machine. Why am I not surprised?" he popped open the top of his cane to reveal a sonic end, "Sonic cane."

"Are you serious?" Melody gaped.

"Never knowingly," the Professor replied, still eyeing Amy, "Never knowingly be serious."

"Rule 27," the Doctor agreed, glancing at Melody, "You might want to write these down," and then returned his attention to the Professor, holding up the cane, "Need this?"

She just gave him a look, "It's a robot containing 423 life signs inside."

His eyes widened, "A robot worked by tiny people?" she nodded and he beamed, "Love it!" he laughed a moment, "But how did they all get in there though? Bigger on the inside?"

"Basic miniaturization sustained by compression field. Slightly more advanced than those used by the Slitheen."

"Oh," he grimaced at the thought of the aliens, "Watch what you eat, it'll get you every time."

"Then you should lay off the nuts dear," she nudged him.

He just grinned at her, "You love it."

"That I do," she admitted softly before glancing at the robot, "Amy, if you and Rory are ok," she took the Doctor's cane and held it up pointedly at the robot's eyes, figuring that would be where they'd be able to see her from, "Signal us."

A moment later the cane beeped and the Doctor took it back, "Thanking you!" he checked the cane.

The Professor let out a small grunt and grabbed her left leg quickly, balancing somewhat shakily on her right leg as she grabbed her left one. The Doctor turned to her, quickly putting an arm around her waist for her to rest her right arm on his shoulder, helping her balance. He frowned, not needing to scan her to tell what was happening. Her training had allowed her to isolate the poison and contain it in her system, basically making the effects unnoticeable, the pain blocked out. But it would barely last the time she had left and when her body was unable to sustain it any longer the pain would drastically increase to the point where she wouldn't be able to cope. It would be unbearable, worse than if she'd just let it in her system to begin with, but she refused to sit by and do nothing.

"You alright?" he asked her quietly.

She was silent a moment before looking at him, "Better sit down."

He nodded, swallowing hard, for her to admit even that small bit of weakness…it was getting bad, far worse than she was letting on and he couldn't even tell because she was blocking the pain from him. He helped her over to the stairs and sat her down.

As he did so Melody made a break for the door.

The robot turned to her and shot a beam at her once more, "Don't you touch her!" the Doctor shouted, spinning around, but the robot didn't stop…

Until a shoe flew out of nowhere and struck it in the back of the head. It stopped, Melody still contained in a force field, restraining her, but turned to face the Professor who was now wearing only one shoe.

The robot stared at her a moment, "…did you just throw a shoe at me?"

"Worked didn't it?" she reasoned, thinking back to Lazarus, "Now…do not harm that woman in any way, understood? I've still got another shoe and I'm not afraid to use it."

It stared, "Why would you care? She's the woman who kills you, the both of you."

"We're not dead," the Doctor took off his hat and looked at it.

"She's dying," the robot glanced at the Professor.

"Well, at least I'm not a time travelling, shape shifting, robot operated by miniaturized cross people," she countered before rubbing her head, "I'm starting to sound like you," she mumbled as the Doctor sat beside her and took her hand, letting her rest her head on his shoulder for a moment.

"Got to admit though," he said quietly, "Didn't see that coming, did we?"

She laughed and shook her head before turning to the robot again, "What do you want with her?" she pointed at Melody.

"She's Melody Pond," the robot replied, "According to our records, the woman who kills the Doctor and the Professor."

"And we  _are_  the Doctor and Professor so what's it got to do with  _you_?"

"Throughout history many criminals have gone unpunished throughout their lifetimes. Time travel has responsibilities."

"What?" the Doctor laughed, "You got yourselves time travel so you decided to punish dead people."

"We don't kill them, we extract them near the end of their established timelines."

"And then what?"

"Give them hell."

The Professor eyed the robot harshly, "I'd ask you who you think you are but I think the answer is fairly obvious."

The Doctor nodded, "So who do you think  _we_  are? Huh?" he pointed his cane at Melody, "The woman who killed us. It sounds like you've got our biographies in there, we'd love a peek."

"Our record office is sealed to the public," it replied, "Foreknowledge is dangerous."

"Yeah well, I'll be dead in three minutes," the Professor scoffed, "There isn't much foreknowledge left."

"Sorry can't do that," the robot was silent, turning its head as though listening to something, before looking back at them, "Records available."

They looked up, a bit startled, before the Professor reached out for the Doctor's cane, snatching it off him and pushing herself to her feet, the Doctor moving to help her walk as she moved to stand before the robot, "Question, I'm dying. I'm pretty sure I know why I'm meant to go first, but I'd like to know who wants us both dead?"

"The Silence."

"What is the Silence?" the Doctor asked, "Why is it called that? What does it mean?"

"The Silence is not a species," the Professor recited, having recognized the name of the aliens, if not the appearance, when they had identified themselves in the children's home ages ago, not much was known about them, "It is a religious order or movement their core belief is that silence will fall when the question is asked."

He looked at her, "What question?"

"The first question. The oldest question in the Universe. Hidden in plain sight."

"Yes, but what is the question?"

She rolled her eyes, "If I knew the Universe would be a quieter place, wouldn't it?"

He smirked just a bit at her snap, even when dying she retained her sass. He looked at the robot, "What about you? Do you know what the question is?"

"Unknown," the robot replied.

"Oh, well, fat lot of use that is you big ginge, call yourselves a record…" he stopped suddenly when the Professor fell to the floor, grabbing her stomach.

"Kidneys are always the first to quit," she mumbled, wincing, "Even forced regeneration was better than this..." suddenly the field around Melody turned red and she screamed in agony, "Doctor!" she gasped, grabbing his arm.

"Amy!" he shouted, "Rory! Amy…can you hear me?"

"What do we do?" the robot asked, a bit more emotion in its voice, "This is me, this is me actually talking, what do we do?"

"Just stop them! She's your daughter. Just stop them."

"How? How!"

"Just do it!" the Professor snapped, closing her eyes, hating how helpless she felt at not being able to help Melody. Because the whole thing was just one big mess, if Melody truly would kill her and the Doctor in the future, and only she was dying now, then the people in the robot were interfering with time, punishing Melody for a crime she hadn't committed yet, most likely by a person she wasn't yet.

A few moments later the red field disappeared and Melody slumped forward, as did the Professor but more from the pain than anything, the Doctor gathering her in his arms as he looked up at Melody, "Please…now we have to save your parents."

"Don't run," she breathed.

"We know you're scared, but never run when you're scared."

"Rule 7."

He looked at her, "Please"

~8~

"Doctor can you hear us?" the robot called, "Professor!" they looked over at the robot, the Professor breathing hard, sweating as she vainly tried to fight off the poison a bit longer. The Doctor truly had to admire her fighting spirit. The half hour had passed and she was still clinging to life, to him, her hands were curled into fists in his shirt as he held her. He looked up at the robot as she blearily woke up, "Help us! Professor help us! Doctor please!"

The Professor let out a whimper as her fist tightened and she started to pick herself up. The Doctor's jaw tensed as he helped her as much as he could, wincing every time she flinched or groaned in pain. Melody simply sat at a table, watching them, determined to make sure the Professor died this time before she left. It was a part of the plan you see, as soon as the Professor was gone, the Doctor would be inconsolable, he'd be angry, he'd be broken, he'd start making mistakes, and then it would be all too easy to take care of him as well. He truly was far too easy of a target without the Professor protecting him.

The Professor tripped at the steps and fell down onto them, struggling to get up but her energy was spent, just getting up had been too much for her.

"Doctor!" Amy's voice called, "Help! Professor!"

"Look at you," Melody shook her head, "You still care."

"Doctor help. Professor help us!"

The Doctor struggled to get the Professor up but she could only shake her head, she was done, making him struggle more, but as he had said once before, not all of them had gone through basic training, she was nearly all muscle and quite heavy…she whacked him on the arm weakly hearing that.

"Please help us."

"It's impressive," Melody admitted, "I'll give you that."

The Professor swallowed and squeezed his hand, "Save them."

He nodded lightly and turned to Melody, "River please…"

"Again!" she got up, "Who is this River? She's got to be a woman. Am I right?"

"Help us," he looked at her, "Help me save Amy and Rory. Help me."

"How?"

"It'll take two to pilot the TARDIS into such a small fit…"

"I can't pilot that thing!"

"Just shut up and drive," the Professor groaned out, taking charge for what might be the last time, "We don't have time…" she swallowed hard, "The TARDIS will show you how…just…help…"

~8~

Amy looked at Rory as they were surrounded by robotic jellyfish-like creatures trying to kill them, "You are unauthorized," one stated, "Your death will now be implemented," electricity crackled around them.

"I love you," she whispered to him.

"I love you too," he hugged her tightly, when the TARDIS appeared around them.

Amy looked around, stunned, "Doctor? Professor? You did it!" she looked at Rory, "They did it!" they started laughing.

"Not quite," the Doctor said quietly.

They stopped and looked over as the Doctor stepped around the right of the rotor while Melody appeared around the other side. She looked a bit, startled, "I seem to be able to fly her…" she looked at the console, "She showed me how. She taught me."

"She's the child of the TARDIS…" the Doctor nodded, already working at the controls, setting the course back to the Professor. He had to be quick, he'd never forgive himself if she died and he wasn't there to hold her. He had promised her never to leave her again, she had already died once and he hadn't been there, he was not about to let it happen again...

"What do you mean?" Melody looked at him.

"Doctor…" Rory began, "Where's the Professor?"

~8~

Amy and Rory knelt beside the Professor while the Doctor was on her other side, holding her as she lay on the steps, dying, holding on just long enough to see them again because she would be damned if she died without her last sight being the Doctor. Amy took her hand, "You can't die now. I  _know_  you don't die now," she sniffled, "It doesn't make any sense."

"Professor, what do we do?" Rory asked her, "Come on. How do we help you?"

"No, I'm sorry Rory," she shook her head, "You can't," she looked at the Doctor, "Nobody can."

He sniffled, tears in his eyes, as he nodded before closing his eyes tightly in grief, shaking his head and looking at her again, "You're  _so_   _stupid_."

"I got better grades than you," she reminded him.

He shook his head, "Why did you do it? You're so stupid."

She looked at him softly, weakly reaching out a hand to try and touch his face but unable to muster the strength for even that, so he took her hand instead, "I had…two very,  _very_  good reasons."

He let out a scoff, "Like what?"

"First…you've done so much for the Universe," she gave a small laugh, "Saving it. Me? I'm just a legend…among the higher species and soldiers…I'm replaceable, you're not."

"You're  _not_  replaceable to  _me_!"

"And second…" she continued, smiling at him with tears in her eyes, " _You_  are the  _only_  husband I have  _ever_  wanted…and the only one I will  _ever_  have…you really are my whole existence…and I will love you until my last breath…in my last body…beyond the end of the Universe…"

Tears fell from his eyes at that, Amy and Rory watching on with tears in their own at seeing the Doctor that broken up. They'd never seen him cry like that, so openly. But then he blinked and looked at her, "Last body…what if I give you my regenerations? That could work, couldn't it?"

She shook her head sadly, "You can't…" she swallowed hard, "You don't have enough left."

"What do you mean?"

"The poison of the Judas Tree…is potent, it would take a minimum energy of…" she frowned, wincing at another pain, "Ten regenerations to counteract. You've only two left…"

"Regenerations?" Melody asked quietly, looking at them, "What do you mean?"

The Professor shook her head, "No," her head started to lull, her time ending, "Don't…tell her…don't tell River…" she breathed and her eyes closed, the Doctor's hearts breaking.

"What did she mean regenerations?" Melody tried again.

"We can give our regenerations to others if we want," the Doctor said, "We keep the energy within us for times of crisis, but we can give it to others, give them more…"

"Would it cure her?" Rory asked.

He kept his eyes on the Professor, "I don't have enough. It wouldn't cure her…it wouldn't burn off the poison…"

Melody looked at the Professor's prone body, the heartbreak on the Doctor's face, the way he clutched her, she knew the woman wasn't dead, not yet. She would slip into a coma where the body would finally shut down, she had mere moments but the Doctor…the way he was holding onto her, it was as though he hoped he'd be able to hold her to life…

The way he was treating the Professor made her recall the way he and the Professor had treated her, it was nothing like anyone faced with the person who murdered them would act. They hadn't fought her, tried to stop her, harmed her...and she knew...it went beyond just her being the daughter of their Companions. And they kept calling her River, and they didn't want River to know something. Who was she? Why did they keep mistaking her for the woman? How would River even be able to help?

"Who's River?" she asked quietly, "She said, don't tell River. Don't tell her what?"

"About the regenerations," he replied.

"Why?" she shook her head, "Who is she?"

Amy looked between the two groups in the room, the dying Time Lady and the woman who was her baby grown up…her baby who had poisoned one of her best friends…her Time Lordish baby…who could regenerate…and made a decision. She turned to the robotic replica of herself, "Are you still working 'cos I'm a relative?"

"Amy, don't," the Doctor called, though even they could tell it was halfhearted.

"Access files on River Song."

"Records available," the robot replied.

"Show me her. Show me River Song."

They watched as the robot turned into River Song, into Melody Pond.

Melody looked on, stunned, in tears. All this time, the Doctor and Professor, well the Doctor really, had been referring to her as River Song, and it wasn't because they had mistaken her, it was because she  _was_  River Song. She was a friend of theirs in the future, somehow she was their  _friend_ …and she'd just killed one of them. She'd killed not only the wife of her mother's best friend, but also her father's best friend…and her future friends, who had saved her, who had protected her, who hadn't blamed her for what she'd been trying to do, who had been trying to help her…

She turned to the Professor, seeing her pale, the slowing rise and fall of her chest indicating her time was nearly out. She looked down at her hands and they started to glow.

"What's happening?" Rory asked, seeing the light, "River, what are you doing?"

Melody smiled just a bit at her father's question, she really was this River Song…she walked towards the Doctor and knelt down before him on the other side of the Professor and looked at him, "Just tell me sweetie…the Professor, is she worth it?"

He looked at her and nodded, "Yes, she's is, and so much more."

Melody nodded and reached out to put a hand on the center of Professor's chest and forehead. The energy started to flow into the woman who woke up with a small gasp, looking up at her, "River…" she breathed, "Don't…"

She just smiled, "Don't worry sweetums," and closed her eyes, allowing the rest of the energy to flow into her, all ten of her remaining regenerations…

~8~

Amy and Rory leaned over Melody as she slowly woke up in a very white, sterile room, "Hey…" Amy smiled at her, "Hey…"

"Where am I?" she frowned.

"You're safe now. You used all your remaining regenerations in one go. You shouldn't have done that."

"Mother…I had to try…"

"I know. "

"She said no one could save her. But she must have known I could."

"Rule 1," the Doctor called as they looked over at him and the Professor standing by the window, "The Doctor lies."

"And me as well," the Professor nudged him, "You're rubbing off on me."

He smiled at her and kissed her head, Melody smiled, seeing them both alright before slowly falling asleep again.

"She just needs to rest," one of the nun-nurses said as the Doctor walked over to the bedside and pulled something from his pocket, "She'll be absolutely fine."

"No she won't," he put a brand new, TARDIS shaped diary on the table.

"She will be amazing," the Professor agreed.

~8~

"So that's it?" Amy asked slowly as they headed back into the TARDIS, "We just leave her there?"

"Sisters of the Infinite Schism, greatest hospital in the Universe," the Professor reassured them.

"Yeah, but, she's our daughter. Professor, she's River  _and_  she's our daughter."

"Amy I know," the Doctor turned to her, "But we have to let her make her own way now."

"We have too much foreknowledge," the Professor nodded, looking at the monitor where a picture of her and the Doctor was displayed. Them by a lakeside, the Doctor wearing a Stetson, her wearing a tassled jacket and cowboy boots, their death date, time, and place glaring at them. The Doctor had managed to hack the files of the robot, the Teselecta, just enough to get that bit of information.

"Dangerous thing, foreknowledge," the Doctor came beside her, looking at it.

"What's that?" Amy tried to peek.

"Nothing!" he flicked it off, "Just some data I downloaded from the Teselecta very boring."

"Doctor, River was brainwashed to kill you both right…" Rory began.

"Well, she did kill me," the Professor nodded, "And then she used her remaining lives to bring me back."

"But…that stuff that they put in her head, is that gone now? The River that we know in the future…she's in prison…for murdering two people."

"Whose murder?" Amy asked. The Doctor just smiled and dashed around the console, "Will we see her again?"

"Oh, she'll come looking for us," he reassured her, heading up the stairs as the Professor leaned against the console.

"Yeah but how? How do people even look for you?"

"Oh, Pond, haven't you figured that one out yet?" he laughed and headed out.

Amy shook her head and looked over at the Professor who was frowning now that the Doctor was gone, "You alright?"

"I…I'm  _so_  sorry Amy," she told her quietly.

Amy frowned and walked over to her, "What for?"

"River, Melody," she sighed, "She used all her regenerations on saving me…she's basically like a human now."

"And that's a bad thing?" Rory shook his head.

"No, not at all! It's just…if she kept them…if anything ever happened to her, she'd be able to heal, to change…and now she can't…"

Amy smiled a bit at her friend's concern for their daughter and moved to hug her, "I'm glad she did, because now…I get one of my best friends back and my daughter gets to treasure having one life to live, a normal life…well, as normal as anything goes when the Doctor gets involved."

The Professor laughed and hugged her back, "You know…I tried not to call her River, to keep her Melody and not try to create the future…" she pulled away a bit, "But…if that was the start of River Song and I had a hand in it, then I'm rather proud, because she's a remarkable person," she smiled at them, "Like her parents."

They beamed at her in return.

"Sorry!" the Doctor called, rushing back down the stairs, "Sorry! Forgot something..." he went straight for the Professor and grabbed her, picking her up over his shoulder and heading for the stairs again as she laughed behind him, "Very important unfinished business to see to!" he called back to Amy and Rory who laughed heartily at him as he ran off.

The Professor playfully hit his back as he carried her quickly through the halls, to their room. It wasn't even a second later that she was tossed onto the bed, bouncing a bit as she laughed, only to be silenced as the Doctor's lips pressed against her own hungrily. She kissed him back earnestly, feeling her face heating up, he was kissing her as though she was the air he was breathing, something that he desperately needed. She felt his hands on her shoulders, pushing off her jean jacket and couldn't help but get his own coat off him as well, his hands starting to wander down to the edge of her shirt, sliding under it to stroke the skin of her side...

"Wait," she breathed, pushing him back just a bit.

"No," he kissed her again, "No more waiting," and again, "Waited 10 months," and again, "No more..."

She felt herself getting lightheaded from his kisses, gasping as he travelled to her neck, before managing to grab onto one last coherent thought and push him back once more, "10 seconds," she promised even as he groaned. She quickly loosened his bow tie and pulled it over his head, rushing to the door of their room and looping it onto the outside knob before turning and rushing back over to him.

He quickly pulled her back onto the bed, "That was 12 seconds," he told her, resuming his attack on her neck.

"Well I  _was_  just poisoned," she reminded him and his grip on her tightened at the reminder, "I'll make the 2 seconds up to you as well."

"I'll look forward to it."

"I bet you wi..."

Her words were cut off as his lips descended on hers once more, all thought fleeing her mind as he rolled them over on the bed.

~8~

Amy and Rory found ways to keep entertained and occupy themselves for the next day or two, especially when the Time Lords failed to make an appearance.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 10 months = 3 months of running around in America while the Doctor was 'captured' + 3 months of the Professor not believing she's real + 1 month of the Doctor gathering information and allies (in AGMGTW Kovarian remarked to Dorium that it had been a month, I assume since Amy woke, and the Doctor hadn't done anything) + 3 months of trying to find Melody (I count 'summer' to be 3 months and I feel like they'd feel so responsible/guilty about what happened to Melody that they'd focus on finding her above all else). Poor, poor Doctor, he must be so starved lol. You can just guess what they're doing...hmmm more than a day locked in their room. Doctor you bad, bad boy lol. And I love how the TARDIS is crashing and gushing out poisoned gas and they're still flirting.
> 
> The Firefly/Serenity reference was the Reavers, rather disturbing humans who, when they come into contact with other humans, resort to combat, rape, torture, murder, and cannibalism. Not very nice are they?


	12. Night Terrors

The Doctor was leaning over the console, helping the Professor with some wiring she was doing below the floor, testing knobs she was trying to get working. Apparently he hadn't just cut the cord to the answer phone but quite a few other things that the Professor nearly had his head for when she double checked the damage.

A moment later something in his pocket burned and he spun around, pulling the psychic paper out of his coat pocket, looking at it, at the message scrawled across it, "'Please save me from the monsters,'" he read, putting it back. He looked down the floor at the Professor who pulled her blackened goggles off and headed for the stairs before turning to start working on the controls.

The Professor smiled and walked past him to the other side, getting to work, "Haven't done this in a while have you?" she called to him with a laugh.

"Done what?" Amy asked as she and Rory looked over, "What're you doing?"

"Making a house call!" the Doctor grinned, pulling a lever. The TARDIS shook violently, nearly throwing Amy and Rory to the ground as they just managed to grab onto the railings for support before the box touched down. Rory glanced at the Doctor and Professor who were setting some instructions, making sure the TARDIS wouldn't wander off before heading for the door.

He stepped out and looked around at the set of buildings before him when Amy joined him. It was a rather drab location, puddles all around, dark, plain, a very basic apartment complex. He frowned, whatever he was expecting, this wasn't it, it was rather unimpressive, "No offense, Doctor..." he called.

The door opened and the Professor stepped out, "Meaning the opposite," she commented, waiting for the Doctor to follow.

"…but we could get a bus somewhere like this."

"The exact opposite," the Doctor agreed, closing the TARDIS door behind him.

"Well, I suppose it can't all be planets and history and stuff, Rory," Amy sighed.

"Yes, it can! Course it can! Planets and history and stuff. That's what we do!"

"But not today," the Professor told him, heading off.

"No," he agreed, pulling out the sonic, starting to scan the area as he followed the Professor into the courtyard, past a sign for the Council Estate, "Today, we're answering a cry for help from the scariest place in the Universe, a child's bedroom."

"Or," the Professor smirked a bit, "The Doctor's dorm room," she turned to Amy and linked arms, "It was a war zone Amy, you couldn't find the floor on a good day and I'm pretty sure some of the food he'd left lying around actually  _did_  grow legs and walk off."

"Oi!" the Doctor mock glared. So he'd gone through a messy phase, all boys did at some point.

' _A messy PHASE?_ ' she cocked an eyebrow at him, ' _I could understand a phase lasting a few decades or so…Theta you were a pig for nearly 350 years!_ '

He pouted, ' _I got better._ '

She smiled softly at him and detangled herself from Amy to give him a peck, ' _Yes you did. And thank God for that._ '

' _Ha ha,_ ' he rolled his eyes, slipping the sonic back into his pocket and taking her hand, heading for the bottom entrance of the building. They came to a wait by the lift when the Professor reached into his pocket and pulled out the psychic paper to look at the message for herself.

"'Please save me from the monsters?'" Rory spotted, looking over her shoulder, "Who sent that?"

The Professor smiled and folded the wallet back up, handing it to the Doctor, "That's what we're here to find out."

"Sounds like something a kid would say," Amy commented.

"Exactly," the Doctor pointed at her, "A scared kid. A  _very_  scared kid. So scared that somehow its cry for help got through to us in the TARDIS."

"Yeah, but you've traced it here?"

"Exactly," the door pinged and opened, "Ah! Going up," he and the Professor stepped in with Amy and Rory.

~8~

The group looked around at all the identical flats with identical doors and windows set up before breaking up to try and find the scared child who had sent the message. Each of them took a different floor, going door to door and hoping they could find the child soon.

The Doctor knocked on a door…

~8~

A door opened and Amy looked down at the small blond girl who had answered, "Hi!"

~8~

An old woman opened the door to look up at the Doctor grinning at her, "Hello!"

~8~

The door opened and a very gangly man with a bowl hair cut and a slightly large nose leaned against the doorway, "Well  _hello_ ," he gave the Professor a leering grin to which she raised an eyebrow.

~8~

At another flat a man with a portly belly opened the door and looked at Rory, confused.

~8~

"Are your mummy and daddy in, or is it just you?" Amy asked the little girl who just opened the door wider to reveal an identical twin sister, "Ok…"

~8~

"Is it about the bins?" the old woman asked.

"Pardon?" the Doctor blinked.

~8~

"Community support," Rory told the man, "Just checking up on community based...things."

~8~

"Has there been any sort of annoyances lately?" the Professor asked the man, trying desperately to keep from smacking his eyes out of his head if only so he'd stop letting them rove over her, "Any sort of tension?"

~8~

The door opened wider and the twin girls' mother appeared, "Can I help you?"

"Hi," Amy smiled, "Yeah, no. Sorry. I was just wondering if you've had any bother around here?"

~8~

"Is everything ok?" Rory asked the man.

~8~

"The bins," the old woman repeated, "I can't be expected to get down all them stairs. I need new knees."

~8~

The man smirked, "Well, I've actually experienced quite a 'tension' tonight. Perhaps you can help me with that?"

~8~

"Bother?" the mother frowned, "What do you mean?"

"Well, I mean..."

" _He_  didn't send you, did he?"

"Who?"

~8~

"Are your neighbors nice?" Rory asked, "Do you get on well?"

"Jim Purcell," the man eyed Rory, "Course we get on well. I'm their landlord. They love me, don't they?"

"You're the landlord?"

~8~

"Not the bins, no, Miss…" the Doctor shook his head.

" _Mrs._ Rossiter."

~8~

The Professor's jaw tensed, "I'm only here to verify the reports sir, not investigate."

"Well, when you're done with your 'verifications,'" he used air quotes, "Perhaps you can be a dear and come back, help me out? Off the clock? Never know? Get a promotion maybe, getting some more… _experience_?"

~8~

"Thought you'd know that, being from community support," Purcell remarked as his dog barked.

"Yeah. Yes! Yes, of course. Sorry."

~8~

"I've already got a new hip," Mrs. Rossiter sighed, "I'll be able to manage when I get the knees. Up and down them stairs like Sherpa Tensing then."

"Can I come in?"

"Course not! You could be anyone!"

"Could be, but I'm not."

~8~

The Professor graduated from tensing her jaw to clenching her fists. The man just smirked, "Oh, feisty…"

~8~

"Or maybe it's best I could come back another time?" Rory suggested as Purcell slammed the door in his face.

~8~

"I'm the Doctor," he told the woman but she slammed her door.

~8~

Amy sighed as the mother slammed her door closed.

~8~

The Professor leaned forward as the man grinned, only to grab the door handle and pull it closed quickly, bashing him in the back of the head causing him to knock the front of his head against the doorframe before falling to the ground, unconscious, in between the threshold. She took a breath and turned, stepping over his body and heading down the hall.

~8~

The Doctor paused on the level above Amy and Rory, who had joined her, to see them walking down the hall outside the flats, the Professor above them, finishing up the last lot on that floor. But then a tiny little flutter caught his eye, a small boy, peeking out of his apartment windows, hiding behind the curtains and peering out at Amy and Rory as they passed.

He looked over to see the Professor turning to head back and caught her eye, ' _Found something?_ ' she asked him.

He nodded, ' _Meet me on the floor below you._ '

She nodded as well and headed for the stairs at the end of the hall while he headed for the one in the center of the complex, jogging down it to meet up with Amy and Rory, "Hey!" Amy greeted, "Any luck?"

"Three old ladies, a traffic warden from Croatia, and a man with ten cats," he replied.

"What are we actually looking for?" Rory asked him.

"Ten cats! Good thing the Professor didn't get that one, they'd probably gob on about those things," he grimaced and shivered at the thought of cats.

' _Says the man who decided to gob on about mathmatics on our wedding night,_ ' the Professor remarked.

He started blushing but quickly turned to Amy to change the direction of his thoughts, "Scared kid, remember?"

"I found scary kids," Amy remarked, "Does that count?"

"Hmm. Try the next floor down. Catch you later," he tapped Amy on the shoulder and continued on.

"Ok…" Amy shook her head, watching him turn the corner as Rory hit the button for the lift.

The Doctor spotted the Professor walking down the hall towards him and stopped outside the door to the flat he'd seen the child looking from and nodded to the door. But then he frowned, seeing her slightly disgusted look, "What's wrong?"

"The last person who answered tried to hit on me."

"What?" his eyes widened.

She nodded, "And then tried to kiss me."

His eyes narrowed and he strode past her, fully intent on heading for the stairs up when she grabbed his arm and pulled him, using his momentum to spin him around, "And where do you think you're going?" she asked him.

"To throw him in a black hole," he remarked, completely serious.

She couldn't help but smirk and roll her eyes, she would enjoy this, "We can't go throwing desperate humans into black holes."

"But he kissed you!"

" _Tried_  to kiss me," she corrected.

"That doesn't make it any better!"

"And now you know how I felt when Amy  _tried_  to kiss you, when Marilyn  _did_  kiss you."

He blinked and looked at her, just now realizing the trap he'd fallen into. He hadn't let her do anything to the others when they'd tried something with him, "But...it's different..." he argued feebly.

"How so?" she raised an eyebrow.

"I...because...it just is!"

It wasn't different at all and he knew it.

"He...he could have forced himself on you," he threw out.

She actually laughed a bit at that, "Honestly Theta, you know there isn't a man on Earth or the Universe who can make me do something I don't want to do."

"Not even me?" he asked her, curious as to what her answer would be.

She rolled her eyes playfully, "You are the  _only_  man who can change my mind."

He grinned, "Is that so?"

"You're very persuasive."

"Really?" he stepped closer, his arms around her waist.

"Oh yes," she smiled, "Your bow tie charms me every time."

He began to grin more when he realized something, "Was that sarcasm?"

She laughed, "Not at all."

His eyes narrowed a bit, "You agreed bow ties were cool," he reminded her.

"Did I?" she hummed, "Must've been under stress..."

"Oi!"

She laughed, "Even if I hadn't, I'd still love you in them," she reassured him, "So you have no need of throwing anyone into any black holes."

He blinked and suddenly turned, about to continue on his war path to the stairs at the reminder of the man who had almost kissed her, when she quickly reached out and grabbed his face, turning him back to her and kissing him soundly. It took only a second for his remaining anger to melt and him to start kissing her back.

She smiled as she pulled away a few moments later, "I needed that," she whispered as he rested his forehead against her head, "And besides, I whacked him rather hard on the back of his head with his door, so he's all taken care of."

"A black hole would be better," he mumbled, his lips so close to her own that they brushed against hers with every word.

"You are adorable when you're jealous," she smirked.

"I am not," he mock whined, though she could tell he was lying through his teeth.

"Oh," she nodded, her smirk turning devious, "Then I suppose I should just go wake him up then and..."

She started walking off towards the stairs when he pulled her around this time and kissed her deeply, his hands cupping her face, his kiss leaving her breathless, "Don't you dare," he told her as he pulled away, knowing she hadn't been serious, but just the thought of another man...

She gave him a peck, "Never ever," she promised.

He sighed, "No black hole then...even though he deserves it," he muttered at the end.

"I know he does," she patted his cheek lightly, "But for now, we have a scared child to help," she reminded him, pulling back to glance at the door he'd been waiting for her at, "I take it this is the flat?"

He nodded and she reached out to knock on the door, him slipping an arm around her waist in the process, making her smile. He'd decided to hell with self control, what happened after they'd saved Melody Pond had proven they had no chance of accomplishing that any time soon. The best they could hope for was to remain focused enough to get their tasks done without ending up getting killed in the middle of flirting.

A moment later a man opened the door and looked at them. The Doctor held up the psychic paper, "Oh," the man's eyes widened, "Right. That was quick."

"Was it?" the Doctor asked.

"Claire said she'd phoned someone. Social Services."

"Yes," he looked at the paper, basically seeing 'John and Katherine Smith, Doctor and Professor of Child Psychology,' "Yes!" he grinned, he'd said it before, calling the Professor Katherine Smith, but even seeing it brought a smile to his face, his wife, she was his  _wife_...

"It's not, easy, you know..." the man continued, pulling him from his thoughts, "Admitting your kid's got a problem."

"You've got a problem," the Doctor began with a shrug.

"He's definitely got problems," the Professor nudged the Doctor jokingly.

"I bet they're connected," he nodded before turning back to the man, "I'm the Doctor," he put the psychic paper away.

"And I'm the Professor," she shook his hand.

"Call us Doctor and Professor. What can we call you?"

"Alex," he replied.

"Hello, Alex," the Doctor shook his hand and stepped inside, looking around, "So...tell us about George," he glanced back at the drawn sign that said 'George's Room' as Alex shut the door and led them to the sitting room.

The Doctor sat on the sofa, the Professor beside him on the armrest as Alex paced. The Professor reached out and picked up one of the photo albums on the table and flipped through them as Alex began to talk, "Ever since he was born he's been a funny kid."

"Funny's good!" the Doctor cheered, glancing at the Professor, "We like funny, don't we?"

"I like you, don't I?" she looked at him. He opened his mouth to agree but then frowned mockingly. She just laughed and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"He never cries," Alex continued, "Bottles it all up, I suppose. Tell him off, he just looks at you."

"How old is he?" the Professor asked him as she glanced at the baby pictures in the album.

"He was eight in January. He should be growing out of stuff like this, shouldn't he?"

"Maybe," the Doctor shrugged, "It's got worse, though lately?"

"Yeah. We talked about getting help. You know, maybe sending him somewhere. He started getting these nervous tics, you know, funny little cough. Blinking all the time. But now it's got completely out of hand," he paced again, "I mean he's scared to death of everything."

"Pantophobia," the Professor remarked distractedly as she looked at the pictures of Alex and Claire at Christmas and then some of George's birth.

"What?"

"That's what it's called," she told him, looking up, "Pantophobia."

"Not a fear of pants though," the Doctor added, "If that's what you're thinking. It's a fear of everything…including pants, I suppose, in that case. Sorry. Go on."

"He hates clowns…" Alex said.

The Professor nodded, "Couldrophobia."

"Understandable," the Doctor had to agree.

"Old toys…"

"Closest fear is of dolls," the Professor replied, "Pediophobia."

"He thinks the old lady across the way is a witch…"

"Wiccaphobia."

"He hates having a bath in case there's something under the water…"

"Ablutophobia."

"The lift sounds like someone breathing…"

"Combination of claustrophobia and acrophobia is typical for fear of lifts…"

He sighed, shaking his head, "Look, I don't know," he sat down on the edge of the coffee table, "I'm not an expert. Maybe you can get through to him."

"We'll do our best," the Doctor promised, getting up.

A moment later there was a crash in George's room.

Alex was up and on his feet in no time, running into his son's room, "George?" he called, running over to his son's side, "You ok? What's the matter?" he caught sight of the lamp on the floor and knelt down to pick it up, "Oh. Never mind. Were you having a nightmare, son?"

"Wasn't a nightmare," George shook his head, "I wasn't asleep," he glanced over as the Doctor slowly walked in, crossing his arms and leaning on the doorframe, as the Professor looked around the room from beside him, "Who are you?"

"I'm the Doctor."

"And I'm the Professor."

He frowned at them, fear in his eyes, "A doctor? Have you come to take me away?"

"No, George," the Doctor smiled reassuringly at him, "We just want to talk to you."

"What about?"

The Professor walked into the room a bit more and knelt down before him, "About the monsters."

The Doctor walked in as well, scooping up a Rubik's Cube and plopping down at the foot of George's bed. The Professor moved to sit back cross-legged beside the bed while Alex got up and paced, "Maybe it was things on the telly, you know?" he murmured.

"Right," the Doctor nodded, distracted by the cube he was having difficulty solving.

"Scary stuff, getting under his skin, frightening him."

"Mhmm."

"So we stopped letting him watch."

"Oh, you don't want to do that," he gave George a small smile, winking at the Professor who gave him an amused look, watching him struggle with the cube.

"Then Claire thought it might have been something he was reading…"

"Great! Reading's great. You like stories, George?" George nodded, "Yeah? Us, too. When I was your age, about, ooh..."

"A thousand years ago," the Professor joked, though very nearly serious.

"I loved a good bedtime story," he continued, "The Professor and I used to stay up at all hours reading them, didn't we?" he shot her a soft smile.

"The Three Little Sontarans," she reminisced.

"The Emperor Dalek's New Clothes."

"Snow White and the Seven Keys to Doomsday."

He sighed with a smile, "All the classics," and then glanced at the cube, "Rubbish," he moved to throw the cube over his shoulder when the Professor cleared her throat and held out her hand. He handed it over, watching as she looked at it, "Probably brok…" and then solved it in a matter of seconds. The Doctor mock glared at it, "I hate those things," George laughed at the silly man who got up and took the cube from her, "Well, better not be rude, tidy up a bit," he looked over at the cupboard, "How about in here?" George gasped, "No? Not in the cupboard?"

"Why not in there, George?" the Professor asked him.

"It's a...thing," Alex answered, "A thing we got him doing ages back. Anything that frightens him, we put it in the cupboard. Creepy toys, scary pictures, that sort of thing."

"And is that where the monsters go?" the Doctor thought, "Yeah," he walked slowly to the cupboard, "There's nothing to be scared of, George. It's just a cupboard," he reached out to turn the latch when a loud knocking startled him.

"Front door," Alex remarked and headed out of the room to get the door. The Doctor shrugged and headed back over to the bed, plopping down, making George bounce in the process when they heard Alex open the door.

"Evening," a man entered with his dog, the landlord, Mr. Purcell.

"Oh, hi…"

The Doctor and Professor exchanged a look as Purcell and Alex appeared through the crack in the doorway, "How's Claire?"

"Good, thanks. At work. Look, this really isn't a good time. Maybe later..."

"And the kiddie?"

"Good."

"Yeah. You know how I hate to mention it, but it's that time again."

"Yes."

"And you know I like my money prompt."

"The thing is…I still haven't found anywhere since the shop shut and Claire's wage only goes so far. I thought we could, you know, come to some sort of arrangement."

The Doctor and Professor's glance turned a bit worrisome and so they turned to George, seeing him frowning. The Professor moved to her knees and reached out, snatching the Doctor's sonic from his jacket and flicked it on.

"Is that a torch?" George asked, looking at the strange sounding device.

"Screwdriver!" the Doctor defended, "A sonic one."

The Professor smiled before whispering conspiratorially to the boy, "And other stuff."

"Please may I see the other stuff?" George asked, excited.

The Professor looked at the Doctor who nodded, "You may," he agreed. She grinned and aimed the sonic at the toys on the floor, activating the battery powered ones, making them all go crazy at once, "Pretty cool, eh?"

George laughed as he watched the toys moving with fascination, the Professor reached out and ran a hand through his hair, "That's better," she whispered, seeing him smiling.

"No tears from George," the Doctor agreed, "That's what we've heard. Go on, give us a smile. There's a brave little soldier. Bit rusty at this. Anyway, let's open this cupboard, eh?" he stood up and plucked the sonic from the Professor's hands, scanning the cupboard, "There's nothing to be..." the sonic's pitch increased, "Off the scale…" he breathed, falling back onto the bed, stunned, "Off the scale!" he looked at the Professor, alarmed, "How..."

"All I want is my 350 pounds," they heard Purcell say menacingly, "Simple as that. Night night. Come on, son. Come on," and then he turned to leave.

The Doctor put a hand on George's shoulder as the Professor got up and moved to the cupboard, placing a hand on it, scanning, when Alex entered, "Right. Sorry about that. So, have we got this thing open yet?" he reached for the latch.

The Doctor jumped up, "No! No! No, no, no! You don't want to do that!"

"Why?"

"Because," the Professor answered, "George's monsters are real."

~8~

Alex glared as the Doctor searched through the cabinets of the kitchen while the Professor sat back at the sofa with the photo album in her hand, "You're supposed to be professionals!" he shouted, "I'll never get him to sleep now!" the Doctor pulled out a teacup, "It's so...irresponsible."

The Professor snorted, "That's him on a good day."

"No, Alex," the Doctor ignored her, "Responsible. Very. Cupboard bad. Cupboard not bare. Stay away from cupboard."

"And there's something else," the Professor called, frowning as she massaged her forehead, "Something I've missed. Something staring me in the face…" she suddenly sat upright, a shocked expression on her face.

"What is it?" the Doctor looked at her, concerned.

She just looked at him, shaking her head slowly, "My God…" she breathed, "I'm turning into you!" she pointed an accusing finger at him.

He just smirked and pointed at her playfully in return before getting back to making tea.

"Look," Alex cut in, "I'd like you to leave, please. You're just making things worse. Will you stop making tea!" he took the cups away from him, "I want you to leave!"

The Doctor pulled them back, "No," and opened the refrigerator.

"What? What do you mean 'no?'" he closed the refrigerator, "Leave! Get out!" the Doctor just opened it again and Alex closed it, "Now, please! Look, maybe this was a bad idea. We should sort out George ourselves."

"You can't," the Professor called, closing the album and getting up with it, walking over to them as the Doctor opened the refrigerator and took out the milk, pouring it into the cups.

"No one's going to tell us how to run our lives," he glared at her, "I don't care who you are or what wheels have been set in motion. We'll sort it!"

"We're not just professionals," the Doctor shook his head, "I'm the Doctor and she's the Professor."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means we've come a long way to get here, Alex," the Professor stepped up, rising to her full height though just a few inches smaller than Alex, "A  _very_  long way," she added, her voice getting just a bit more firm, "George sent a message, a distress call in fact. Whatever's inside that cupboard is so terrible and so powerful, that it amplified the fears of an ordinary little boy across all the barriers of time and space."

"Eh?" Alex asked, if just for something to say. Truth be told, the small slip of a girl in a skirt was quite intimidating.

"Through crimson stars," she nodded.

"And silent stars," the Doctor added, smiling at her.

"And tumbling nebulas like oceans set on fire."

"Through empires of glass…"

"And civilizations of pure thought."

"And a whole, terrible, wonderful Universe of impossibilities."

"You see these eyes?" she stepped closer and stared him down, "They're old eyes. And one thing we can tell you, Alex...monsters are real."

Alex swallowed hard, "You're not from Social Services, are you?"

"First things first," the Doctor clapped, "You got any Jammie Dodgers?"

He nodded and pointed to a small cabinet. It was silent a moment before Alex chanced a glance at the Professor, "Do you and he…" he pointed at the Doctor, trailing a bit.

"Yes," she nodded, already knowing what he was going to ask, "All the time. Sorry."

~8~

The Doctor sat beside the Professor as she frowned at the photos of Claire and George and Alex, he couldn't help but smile at the furrowed brow she was sporting, it was something he recognized from her first incarnation, something she did when she was  _really_  trying to work out something that was troubling her.

"There's something about these photos…" she muttered.

He shook his head and reached out to close the album, knowing that the more frustrated she got the longer it would take her to work it out, she needed a break, "Anyway! Good. Nice tea. Nothing like a cuppa, but decision," he put the album down and turned to the Professor, "Should we open the cupboard?"

Alex spit out his tea, "What?"

"Should we?" the Doctor looked at him.

"Well..."

He turned back to the Professor, looking between them, "Got to open the cupboard, haven't we?" he nodded, "Course we have!" and turned to Alex, "Come on, Alex! Alex! Come on! How else will we ever find out what's going on here?"

"Right," Alex stood, "But you said..."

"Monsters! Yeah, well, that's what we do! Breakfast, dinner, and tea. Fight the monsters. So this...this is just an average day at the office."

"Ok. Yeah. You're right."

"Or maybe we shouldn't open the cupboard…" he frowned, looking at the Professor, "We have no idea what might be in there! How powerful, how evil it might be!"

She smiled, "Has that ever stopped you before?"

"We don't?" Alex shouted.

"Come on, Alex!" the Doctor turned to him, "Alex! Come on! Are you crazy? We can't open the cupboard!"

"God, no. No, we mustn't!"

The Professor just shook her head and rubbed her forehead at his antics as he stood up and put his hands on either side of Alex's head, "Right. That settles it."

"Settles what?"

The Doctor pulled his hands away and drained his tea, "Going to open the cupboard!" he moved to leave only to have himself pulled back by the coat.

"WE are going to open it, right Doctor?" she gave him a look.

"Yes, of course," he nodded, grinning madly, "Ladies first."

She laughed and walked past him into George's room. They headed to the cupboard, standing before it as George got up and walked to his father's side, standing behind him in fear, already knowing what they were going to do.

The Doctor stretched out his arms, cracking his neck. The Professor rolled her eyes at him, sending a small smile at George which he returned. The Doctor suddenly ran forward and leaned against the furniture, startling Alex and George before slowly reaching out to the door…

"Oh for God's sake Doctor," she called, "Get on with it."

He pouted a moment before yanking the cupboard door open.

There was nothing inside but some clothes and old toys, a dollhouse as well. The Doctor turned around and frowned, "I don't understand it. It has to be the cupboard," he looked at the Professor, "The readings from the sonic screwdriver, they were..."

He suddenly ran out of the room, shocking even the Professor with the action, only to return a moment later with the photo album, "How old is George, Alex?" he asked the man quickly.

"What? How old…"

The Professor frowned at the question, not entirely sure where he was going with it.

"Yes. How old is George?"

"Well, I told you. Just…"

"Turned eight," the Professor recalled.

"So you remember when he was born then?" the Doctor looked at him.

"Of course!" Alex exclaimed.

"'Course you do! How could you not? You and Claire. Christmas Eve. 2002, right?" he held out the album, showing them a photo.

"What? Er...yeah."

"Couple of weeks before George was born. Tell me about the day he arrived. Must've been wonderful."

"Best day of my..." he faltered a moment, seeming distracted, "Life."

"Sure?"

"Yes."

"You don't sound sure," the Professor slowly realized what he was getting at. How could she have missed it?

"What are you trying to say? Look, I don't like this. I've told you before, I want you to go!" he pointed at the door.

"What's the matter, Alex?" the Professor asked, seeing him struggle with something.

"I can't...don't! Oh, this is scary!"

"No, Alex," the Doctor shook his head, holding up the album, " _This_  is scary," he pointed to one picture of Claire and George, newly born, "Claire with baby George. Newborn, yes?"

"Yes."

"Less than a month after Christmas."

"So?"

"So look. Look!"

The Professor's eyes widened, "Claire's not pregnant!" she shook her head, "How on Earth did I  _miss_  that?"

"You're getting old dear," he told her with a smirk.

She smacked his arm, "Watch it."

"What?" Alex shook his head, thoroughly freaking out.

"Not pregnant," the Doctor repeated, pointing to the Christmas party photo of a clearly flat-stomached Claire.

"Well, of course not. Claire can't have kids!" Alex gasped, realizing what he'd said.

"Say that again," the Doctor said, closing the album.

"We tried everything. She was desperate. As much IVF as we could afford, but...Claire can't have kids. How...how can I have forgotten that?"

They all slowly turned to look at George sitting on the bed, "Who are you, George?" the Doctor asked him softly.

"It's not possible! This isn't..."

"George?" the Professor stepped forward, reaching out to him, about to scan him, to see if she could possibly get another sort of reading however little help it would be, whatever George was seemed to be impersonating a human, possibly replicating the DNA and masking whatever else it was. It would explain why she hadn't gotten some sort of reading when she'd touched him before.

But then the room began to shake and a light blared from under the cupboard and through the doors. The bedside lamp switched on brightly. The cupboard door swung open and the three of them were pulled towards it by a strong gust of wind. They tried to fight it, the Doctor and Professor trying to reach out to the clearly terrified George.

"George!" the Doctor shouted, "George, what's going on? Are you doing this?"

"Who else could be doing it Doctor?" the Professor countered with a grunt as she held onto the side of the doorframe.

"What's happening?" Alex called.

George pulled his legs under his chin and wrapped his arms around them, squeezing his eyes closed, "Please save me from the monsters!" he begged, "Please save me from the monsters! Please save me from the monsters! Please save me from the monsters!"

"George!" the Professor yelled, struggling.

"Doctor!" Alex gasped, getting pulled towards the door.

"George!" the Doctor tried, only to get pulled into the cupboard.

"George!" Alex reached out but was sucked in along with the Professor, the cupboard door slamming shut behind them.

~8~

The Doctor came to to the sense of someone shaking him softly. He blinked blearily to see the Professor kneeling beside him, rubbing her head. He sat up quickly and gave her a onceover, checking her head, she had a small bump but nothing too bad. He reached out and gently dropped a kiss on the bump, making her smile at him for the thought. A moment later he was on his feet and ran to a door as the Professor moved to help Alex up, "George!" he called, trying to get through the door but unable to, "Don't do this! We want to help you, George!"

The Professor helped Alex lean on the table, "We went..." the man tried to get out, having just a bit of difficulty dealing with all this, "We went into the cupboard! We went into the cupboard! How can it be bigger in here?"

"More common than you'd think, actually," the Doctor sighed and turned to see the Professor frowning at the food lining the table of the dining room, "You're ok."

"Where are we?" Alex looked around.

"Obvious, isn't it?" the Professor looked up.

"No!"

"The dollhouse," she replied, tossing the Doctor one of the 'biscuits' on the table for him to fiddle with as he walked over, "We're inside the dollhouse."

"The dollhouse?"

"In the cupboard," she nodded slowly, "In your flat. The dollhouse."

"No, no, just slow down, would you?"

"Look!" the Doctor cut in, not wanting to waste time trying to explain to the man while the boy was still in some sort of danger, "Wooden chicken!" he tossed it at Alex, "Cups, saucers, plates," as well as a plate and cup, "Knives, forks, fruit, chickens! Wood! So...we're either inside the dollhouse or this a refuge for dirty, posh people who eat wooden food."

"Or termites," the Professor joked.

He nodded, not quite catching the joke, "Giant termites trying to get on the property ladder," he picked up a melon and thrust it to Alex before spinning to the Professor, "No, that's possible. Is that possible?"

She kissed his cheek, "With you, anything is."

He grinned widely and took her hand, the two of them heading out of the room with Alex following in a rush, dropping the items as he went.

They stepped out into the hallway and strode down it, "Look, will you stop?" Alex grabbed the Doctor and spun him around, "What is he? What is George? And how could I forget that Claire can't have kids? How?"

"Perception filter," the Professor remarked, turning to the Doctor, "I  _knew_  there was a reason I wasn't getting it...stupid filter."

She crinkled her nose at the thought of it and so the Doctor gave her a kiss on said nose before clapping Alex on the back and continuing on.

"Some kind of hugely powerful perception filter," he agreed, "Convinced you and Claire. Everyone. Made you change your memories," he stopped in front of a mirror and made a face as the Professor glanced behind them, checking for any alien fish vampires, "Now," he turned to her, "What could do that?"

"At least a thousand other species have a natural ability to affect memory," she recalled, thinking on the Silence, "We'll need to narrow it down."

He nodded, "Right then, off we go."

They walked on and Alex paused to look in the mirror, "Just a mirror," he remarked, heading off after them as a life-sized wooden doll appeared in the reflection behind him.

"So," the Doctor called as Alex caught up, "Claire can't have kids and something responded to that. Responded to that need. What could do that?"

"I thought you were the experts, fighting monsters all day long," Alex remarked, "You tell me!"

"Well the fact that it responds to need narrows it down," the Professor nodded, "At least by half…"

"Oi, listen, hush," he turned to Alex, knowing the Professor was already going through the list of other species in her mind, "Old eyes, remember? We've been around the block a few times."

The Professor snorted, "More than a few."

"They've knocked down the blocks we've been round," he agreed, turning to lead them into a room.

"And rebuilt them as bigger blocks," she joked.

"Super blocks!"

"We've been round them as well."

"We can't remember everything."

"Well…HE can't…" the Professor nudged him a bit, "But, think about all that knowledge, takes a while to sort through."

Alex looked back and forth between them, still not quite used to their dual speaking but shook his head, "Doctor...Professor…"

"It's like trying to remember the name of someone you met at a party when you were two," the Doctor argued.

"The lift."

"And I can't just plump for 'Brian' like I normally do."

"Or Jeff," the Professor remarked.

"Listen!" Alex shouted.

"Shh," the Doctor hissed, hearing a sort of wheezing noise, not the TARDIS but more like breathing, "What's that?"

"It's the lift," the Professor said, she'd heard Alex saying it before.

Alex nodded, "It's the sound that the lift makes. George is scared stiff of it…" and then he noticed a set of five electric candles, switching off one by one and back on, "Five times…" he muttered.

"What?" the Doctor looked over.

He knelt down by the lights, "The lights. It's happening five times. It's like one of George's habits," the Doctor and Professor exchanged a look and knelt down beside him, "We have to switch the light on and off five times."

"Now you're getting it!" the Doctor grinned.

"What d'you mean?"

"What do you tell George to do, Alex, with everything that scares him?" the Professor asked.

"Well, put it in the...cupboard."

"George isn't just an ordinary little boy."

"So, anything scary he puts in here," the Doctor explained, "Scary toys, like the dollhouse. Scary noises, like…like the lift. Even his little rituals have become part of it."

"Ability to create a psychic repository," the Professor mumbled, "Narrows it down a bit more…"

Just then, the sound of laughter reached them.

They looked up to see a life-sized wooden doll enter the room behind them, "Oh, my God!" Alex gasped. They stood up and the Doctor pulled out the sonic, scanning it, "A gun? You've got a gun?"

"It's not a gun," the Doctor remarked, shaking the sonic in frustration, "Wood!" he looked at the Professor, "We've got to invent a setting for wood. It's embarrassing."

The Professor shook her head and pulled out her blaster, quickly shifting the settings, and fired, "What was that?" Alex gaped, "Did you kill it?"

She shook her head, "It's wood, it was never alive to begin with, the most I could do is stun it," the doll started to twitch, "And not for long."

They ran to the back door, the Doctor grabbing a pair of large purple child's safety scissors. He turned as the doll stood and shoved it back with the tip of the scissors, "Come on!"

"Don't run away," the doll called after them, "We just want to play!"

They ran out into the hallway, running through another door and into the entrance of the house, the grand staircase, "Massive psychic field," the Professor muttered, "Narrows it down more."

"Perfect perception filter," the Doctor nodded, "And that need."

The Professor took the scissors from him and tossed it to Alex, who pushed the doll that followed them back, before turning to the Doctor, "George is a Tenza."

"Are you sure?" he asked her, she gave him a pointed look and he nodded, "Of course he is."

"He's a what?" Alex called.

"A cuckoo. A cuckoo in the nest."

The Professor shook her head, "A Tenza," she corrected, "He's a Tenza."

The Doctor opened a door to the side of the room and quickly shut it, seeing another doll, "Millions of them hatch in space and then…whoops!" he tried another door with a third doll behind it, "Off they drift, looking for a nest. The Tenza young can sense exactly what their foster parents want and then they assimilate. Perfectly."

"George is an...alien?" Alex pushed back two dolls, backing up to their sides.

"Yup."

"But he's...he's our child!"

The Professor slowly started backing up the stairs, pulling the Doctor up with her as Alex followed, "Of course he is," the Doctor agreed, "The child you always wanted. He sensed that instinctively and sought you out, but something scared him. Started this cycle of fear," the three dolls advanced on them.

"It's all completely instinctive," the Professor added, "Subconscious. George isn't even aware that he's controlling it."

The Doctor scratched his head a moment, "So we have to make him aware," he decided, running up the stairs to a small landing where the stairs turned and calling out, "George! GEORGE! You're the only one who can stop this, but you have to believe! You have to believe, you have to know you're safe! We can't save you from the monsters. Only you can! George, Listen to me! George! Listen to me!"

"Rory!" the Professor gasped. The Doctor looked over to see Rory working his way down the stairs, fending off two dolls with a mop.

"Professor!" he shouted, "Doctor!"

"Where's Amy?" the Doctor asked and Rory pointed at the second doll, a red haired doll.

"George!" the Professor tried, "George, you have to face your fears. You have to face them now! You have to open the cupboard or we'll all be trapped here forever in a living death! George! George, listen to me! George! I know you're scared, but you  _can_  do this! Open the door and you're back with  _us_! Don't let your fear control you, trust me. I have been where you are, you  _need_  to face your fears or they will control you! George, you have to end this!"

Suddenly, the dolls stopped.

The Doctor and Professor turned around to see George standing in the center of the room below them, at the foot of the stairs. The Doctor beamed, "George! George! You did it! You did it! It's ok, it's all ok now. Everything's going to be fine," but then the dolls started to walk towards him, "No. No. No, no, no, no, no!" he leaned over the banister, "George, you created this whole world. This whole thing, you can smash it! You can destroy it!"

George shook his head and the Professor realized, "Something's holding him back."

The Doctor's eyes widened, seeing the same fear in George's eyes as he had when the boy had learned thought he was a doctor come to take him away, and he turned to Alex, "That's what did it. That's what the trigger was. He thought you were rejecting him. He thought he wasn't wanted. That someone was going to come and take him away."

Alex looked between the dolls advancing on George and the Doctor as he tried to explain, "Well, we...we talked about it..."

"Yeah, and he heard you, Alex."

"A Tenza's sole function is to fit in," the Professor told him, "To be wanted, and you were rejecting him."

"We just couldn't cope," he defended, "We needed help!"

Rory tried to push the dolls with the mop when the Professor reached out and grabbed it from him, "Sorry Amy," she muttered before swinging the mop and knocking the doll backwards before moving onto the next one, trying to keep them back, giving the Doctor time to get through to Alex on a level only he could, as a father.

"Yes, but George didn't know that," the Doctor continued, "He thought you were rejecting him. He  _still_  thinks it."

"But how can we keep him?" Alex asked, "How can we? He's not..."

"Not what?"

Alex looked at George who was shaking in fear as the dolls began to surround him, "He's not...human."

"No, he isn't," the Professor grunted.

"DAD!" George shouted.

And that was all Alex needed to jump into motion.

He shoved the scissors into the Doctor's arms and ran down the stairs, pushing past the dolls, knocking the ones by his son away, and pulled George to him in a huge hug, "Whatever you are," he whispered to George as he cried, "Whatever you do, you're  _my son_. And I will  _never_ ,  _ever_  send you away. Oh, George. Oh, my little boy."

"Dad," George sniffled into his shoulder.

"My little boy," he repeated as light filtered through the windows.

"Dad," he squeezed him closer.

~8~

"Hi!" a woman shouted as the front door opened. The Doctor looked up from where he was playing with George, sitting on the counter of the kitchen with one of his toys, laughing, while Alex and the Professor talked quietly off to the side.

"Hello!" the Doctor greeted as she entered the room, "You're Claire, I expect. Claire..." he gave her two Gallic air kisses, "How'd you feel about kippers?" he moved to the stove.

"Please," the Professor half begged the woman, "Take over before he burns your flat down."

"I'm not THAT bad," the Doctor muttered.

"1969," she deadpanned, "The toaster."

"Yeah well…" he floundered, "That only happened once!"

"Craig's surprise breakfast," she added, thinking back to how she'd had to instruct him on how to make a surprise breakfast for the man. He'd asked her if the small metal box was meant to start smoking to which she had expressly told him to pull the plug before it caught on fire.

"Alright then twice," he sighed, "Happy now?"

"Er...who?" Claire pointed at the odd duo.

"They sent someone," Alex supplied, "About George. It's all sorted."

Claire moved over to George and rubbed his back as he ate a slice of bread, "Yeah, we had a great time, didn't we?" the Professor smiled at him.

"Yeah!" the little boy cheered.

"See, he's fine," the Doctor nodded.

"What?" Claire gaped, "Just like that?"

"Yes," the Professor turned to her.

"Trust us," the Doctor added.

Claire could only smile, especially when Alex kissed her on the cheek. George sat on the counter, grinning and swinging his little legs happily.

~8~

The Doctor and Professor stepped out of the flat when Alex followed them out with a shout, "Doctor, Professor, wait!"

"Sorry, yes," the Doctor turned around, "Bye," he shook Alex's hand.

"You can't just...I mean..."

"It's sorted," the Professor laughed a bit, "You sorted it Alex. You're a good man and you'll be an excellent father."

"What, that's it?" he called as they turned again.

"Well, apart from making sure he eats his greens and getting him into a good school, yes," the Doctor replied.

"But is he going to...I don't know, sprout another head or three eyes or something?"

"He's one of the Tenza," the Professor reminded him, "He'll adapt perfectly now," George stepped out, looking for his dad.

"Hey!" the Doctor greeted, pointing at him, "Be whatever you want him to be," they turned to walk again but he stopped, "We might pop back around puberty, mind you. Always a funny time..." he trailed off a bit, it certainly  _was_  a funny old time. He could remember his own stint, he'd been fairly certain at the time that the dreams he'd had of the Professor were going to be the death of him...

And then he looked at her to see her smirking at him and his face flushed a brilliant red.

' _There it is,_ ' she grinned, having glimpsed a bit of his thoughts, the dreams, she  _loved_  making him squirm and blush like that, ' _My favorite shade of red._ '

He just grabbed her hand and pulled her off quickly.

"Kippers are getting cold!" they heard Claire call from inside as they headed for the stairs, catching sight of Amy and Rory waiting for them at the end of the courtyard. They headed over to where they were sitting on a low wall.

"Come on, you two," the Doctor said, feeling his face cool down, thankfully, the last thing he needed was for Amy to catch his burning cheeks and tease him about it too, "Things to do, people to see, whole civilizations to save…"

The Professor sat down beside Amy, "You feeling ok?"

"Er, I think so," she nodded.

"I didn't hit you too hard with the mop did I?"

Amy laughed, "I was made of wood, I'm pretty sure you could have hit me with a mallet and I'd still be alright."

The Professor laughed as well, "Good."

"Yes," the Doctor nodded, "Good to be all back together again. In the flesh. Come on," he held out his hand to the Professor, helping her stand, and they headed off, back to the TARDIS. He squeezed her hand a bit, drawing her attention.

She looked at him to see him looking at her intently, as though waiting for something, and sighed, "I concede to a point," she told him, "SOMETIMES, every so often, once in a  _very rare_ purple moon, you  _do_  think as fast, possibly faster, than me."

He beamed at that but gave her hand a small peck, "Well, I was around children more than you were," he reasoned as he unlocked the TARDIS, "I suppose I would notice something like that first."

She frowned a moment as she recalled the adventures she had had with him involving children…there were quite a few…

The Doctor, as always, bounded up the stairs to the console with the Professor, Amy and Rory following behind, "Now did someone mention something about planets and history and stuff?" he grinned.

"Where do you want to go?" the Professor looked at Amy.

"Um..." she frowned.

"Mind's gone blank," the Doctor whispered to the Professor.

"Well, I  _have_  just been turned into a wooden dolly," Amy defended.

"Excuses, excuses."

"It's tough though," Rory agreed, "It's like being given three wishes."

"The whole Universe," the Professor agreed, that could be quite a big choice.

"Or Universes," the Doctor added.

"Oh, three wishes like Ali Baba!"

"How about that?"

Amy and Rory shook their heads as the Doctor and Professor went on a spiel about the story and the role they had played in its creation.

"Although..." the Professor turned to the Doctor as they finished their recount of that adventure, "I'm fairly certain they've still got that vendetta against you, may not want to risk your head just yet..."

He winced, recalling that little fact, "Right, yes...hmm..." he hummed, trying to think of what sort of adventure they could go on next.

"Though...I can think of one wish I could grant right now," she remarked.

The Doctor looked at her, "What?"

She just smirked and his eyes widened, seeing a glimpse of one of the dreams she'd caught before. She nearly laughed at how quickly his eyes had dilated, actually starting to fear for his vision there was such little color of his irises left.

He swallowed hard, his breath leaving him, there went that self control again, right out the window. He grabbed her hand, tugging her towards the stairs as he called back to Amy and Rory, "You'll be fine on your own for a while won't you? Thought so!"

And disappeared around the corner, the Professor's giggling fading as he pulled her away.

Amy sighed and shook her head, "I give them twenty seconds before the Doctor's bow tie is on the door again."

Rory laughed a bit, "Let's just hope it doesn't take them another two and a half days before they come out," he put his arm around her waist and they walked up the stairs as well, "We nearly ran out of milk last time and it's not like we can pilot this thing."

Amy giggled, resting her head on Rory's shoulder, her giggles turning into full blown laughter as they passed the Doctor's door and she checked her watch, "15 seconds, that's a new record."

There was the bow tie.

~8~

" _Tick tock goes the clock and what now shall we play? Tick tock goes the clock, now summer's gone away?_

 _Tick tock goes the clock and what then shall we see?_   _Tick tock past the day that they both have married._

 _Tick tock goes the clock and all the years they fly._   _Tick tock and all too soon she and he must die._

 _Tick tock goes the clock, they cradled her and rocked her._   _Tick tock goes the clock for the Professor and the Doctor._ "

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't typically add other scenes not involving the Doctor or Professor, but I felt like, this time, Amy and Rory checking the flats had to be in there to really complete the scenes. I sort of imagine the man the Professor checked on as similar to Howard Walowitz from Big Bang Theory :) Good thing the Professor took care of him before the Doctor did, I love how he'd calm down and as soon as it was mentioned be right back on trying to toss the man in a black hole, aw, love possessive Doctor. This is probably going to be one of the last of the 'suggestive' scenes till Series 7, as we all know what's coming, the next few episodes don't end quite on a note that would lead to such activities...(but I do love how Amy and Rory are aware of what's going on and having a laugh about it on the side, good thing the Doctor/Professor's room is soundproof right?).
> 
> Next chapter we get a slightly heartbreaking flashback and an idea of just how close Amy and the Professor have grown as friends over the stories. Venice was just the beginning.


	13. The Girl Who Waited

Amy and Rory watched as the Doctor and Professor danced around the controls of the TARDIS, both as in sync as the first time she'd seen them piloting and she couldn't help but smile at them for that as she reached out and gently took Rory's hand, making him smile as well and squeeze her hand.

"Apalapucia!" the Doctor shouted, slapping down a lever.

"Say it again?" Amy called.

"Apalapucia," the Professor repeated.

"Apalapu..."

"Cia," the Doctor finished.

"Apalapucia," Rory managed.

"Apalapucia," the Professor turned to Amy.

"Apalapucia," she said as well, "What a beautiful word."

"Beautiful word, beautiful world!" the Doctor exclaimed, spinning round to take the Professor's hand, "Beautiful like you," and kissed the back of it before running around the console once more.

The Professor laughed at that before shaking her head and turning back to Amy, "Apalapucia was voted the number two planet in the top ten greatest destinations for the discerning intergalactic traveler."

"Why couldn't we go to number one?" Rory frowned.

"It's hideous!" the Doctor cut in.

"Everyone goes to number one Rory," the Professor nodded, scrunching her nose at the thought, "Planet of the coffee shops."

The Doctor laughed and walked over to her, dropping a peck on her nose before spinning around with a clap, "Apalapucia! I give you sunsets, spires, soaring silver colonnades!" he ran to the doors, "I give you..." and threw them open, only to reveal an empty white space with a set of gray double doors at the end of it.

"Doors," Rory remarked, peering out after him.

"Doors," the Doctor sighed, "Yes. I give you doors," he stepped out, followed by Rory and the Professor, "But on the other side of those doors, I give you sunsets, spires, soaring silver colonnades."

Rory looked at the Professor who could only shake her head and mouth 'probably not' and he sniggered just a bit behind the Doctor's back.

"Have you seen my phone?" Amy called. They turned around to see her standing in the doorway of the TARDIS.

"Your phone?" the Doctor frowned.

"Yeah."

"Your mobile telephone? We bring you to a paradise planet, two billion light years away, and you want to update Twitter?"

"Sunsets. Spires. Soaring silver colonnades. It's a camera phone."

The Professor shook her head, "On the counter, by the DVDs."

"Thank you," she nodded and headed back in.

The Doctor huffed a bit till the Professor took his hand and they joined Rory by the door, "How do we get in?" he asked them.

"I don't know," the Doctor frowned at the doors.

"Push a button?" the Professor suggested at the obliviousness of the men.

They exchanged a look and turned to see a panel on the side of the door with two buttons, a green anchor and a red waterfall. Rory pushed the green anchor and the doors slid open to another plain white room, though this one had a pair of white chairs and a table with a large magnifying glass on top of it in it.

"Ok, so, rain check on the soaring silver colonnades…" the Doctor muttered, walking in with the Professor, Rory looking around when the door slid shut behind them.

"It's a magnifying glass," Rory remarked, examining the glass as the Doctor peered through it as well.

"Hey?" they heard Amy call from the other side of the door, "Hey, it's locked."

"Yeah, push the button," Rory called back. A moment later the doors were still shut. Rory sighed and headed for them, "Come on, Amy!" he opened the doors himself but Amy wasn't there. He frowned, looking around, "Where is she? Where on wherever we are is my wife?" he looked back at them as the Doctor sat down by one of the chairs. He pressed the green button on the magnifying glass and a blurry picture of Amy appeared, peering at them through the other side.

"Rory..." the Professor called to him, "I think we've found her."

Amy's eyes widened as she caught sight of them.

"What do you mean you've found her?" Rory walked back over, only to jump back, seeing Amy there but not there, "Whoa! No, but, she's not...she's not here! I can see her, but she's not here."

"Where am I?" Amy leaned closer, "In fact, where are you?"

The door to the room suddenly slid open and a white robot with no face and flesh-like hands entered. The Doctor and Rory held up their hands, the Doctor jumping up to stand beside him as the Professor sat down in his spot, ignoring the possible threat in the doorway, it was just a robot, a slow moving one at that.

"Whoa," Rory eyed the robot.

"Hands!" the Doctor noticed, "Hello. Hands. Handbot with hands, Rory."

"Welcome to the Two Streams Facility," the Handbot replied, "Will you be visiting long?"

"Er, Professor," Amy called, frowning and backing away from the glass, "Something's happening…"

"Amy!" the Doctor turned back to see the picture go to static, different bits of Amy appearing as though in fast motion, "Stay calm! Stay still!" the Professor put her hand on the glass, trying to scan the technology, as he did the same with the sonic, "Ah, time's gone wobbly…" he glanced at the Professor, "I hate it when it does that."

"You only hate it when you're not the cause of it," she remarked.

"Will you be visiting long?" the Handbot stuck out its hand at Rory, making him leap back.

"Good question, bit sinister," he replied, "What's the answer to not get us killed?"

The Professor hit the top of the glass with her fist and the picture of Amy returned, her sitting curled up in the corner of the room. The Professor blinked and looked at the Doctor, "What do you know, that actually works…"

He smirked at her victoriously, recalling all the times she'd told him not to hit the TARDIS and how it never worked, but they had more important things to worry about at the moment. He turned back to Amy, "It's ok, we've got you, you're fine."

"Will you be visiting long?" the Handbot repeated.

"Doctor, a little help," Rory called, "Professor."

"And where have you been?" Amy demanded.

"Will you..." the Handbot started again.

"What do I tell it?" Rory hissed.

"I've been here a week!" Amy shouted.

"A week?" the Doctor gaped, before looking at the Professor, "A week?" and back, "I'm so sorry!"

The Professor frowned, "Same room, different times. Two time streams running parallel but at different speeds."

The Doctor blinked, shocked, as he looked at Amy, "Amy, you're in a faster time stream."

"Doctor, it's going again!" Amy groaned, the picture starting to static.

"Professor!" Rory shouted as the Handbot reached its hand closer to him.

"AMY!" the Doctor tried to get the picture back.

"DOCTOR!" Amy screamed.

The Professor snatched the sonic from the Doctor's hand and flashed it at the glass, freezing the static and returning the image. Amy was sitting in one of the chairs with her feet up on the table, "Got it!" the Professor grinned, "There. Stabilized."

"Why has this got hands?" Rory asked as the Handbot cornered him.

The Professor tossed the shocked Doctor the sonic and walked over, peering at the hands, "Organic skin, ultimate universal interface, grown and grafted, not born. It's like a bat or snake, seeing with its other senses, in this case seeing with its fingers, similar to how I can assess things. It's scanning the room."

"But why not just give it eyes?" the Doctor wondered.

"Will you be visiting long?" the Handbot repeated.

"As long as it takes," the Doctor determined as he peered through the glass at Amy, "Amy, what exactly did you do?"

"I just…I came in and I pressed the door button," Amy shrugged.

"Ah...Amy, there are two buttons," Rory told her, "Green anchor, red waterfall. Which one did you push?"

"I pushed the red waterfall."

Rory sighed and opened the doors, "Great," he muttered, stepping out. The doors slid shut behind him and the Professor and Doctor exchanged a concerned glance. A moment later Rory appeared again, "I pressed red waterfall and she wasn't there!"

"So you can't follow her directly…" the Professor frowned.

"You know, it's never simple!" the Doctor turned to the Handbot, "Hear that, Handbot? She just pressed the wrong button. We're aliens, we didn't know."

"Statement...rejected," the Handbot stated, a red light turning on in its chest, "Apalapucia is under planet-wide quarantine."

"What for?" the Professor tensed, concerned. She couldn't help but think of the incident with New New York and the Bliss.

"This is a kindness facility for those infected with Chen-7."

The Doctor and Professor quickly covered their mouths and noses with their jackets, "What?" the Doctor demanded, eyes wide.

"Chen-7, hmm?" Rory asked, his voice muffled as he pressed his own coat to his mouth.

"The One Day Plague," the Professor breathed.

"What, you get it for a day?"

"No, you get it, and you die in a day," the Doctor replied as Amy covered her mouth as well.

"There are 40,000 residents in the Two Streams Facility," the Handbot stated, "Please remain in the sterile areas. Visiting hours are now."

The Handbot touched its fists together and teleported away. The Doctor and Professor lowered their jackets, Rory following after, "Sterile area," the Professor nodded.

"We're safe," the Doctor sighed, falling down into a chair with a sigh of relief.

"What about me?" Amy smacked the glass.

"Chen-7 only affects two-hearted races like Apalapucians," the Professor told her.

"And Time Lords," Rory added.

The Doctor looked at him, "Yeah, like us," he nodded, before shaking his head and taking the Professor's hand, "In that facility, we're dead in a day. Time moves faster on Amy's side of the glass…Amy, you said you'd been here a week. What did you eat?"

"Nothing," she replied, "I wasn't hungry."

The Professor nodded, "Because red waterfall time is compressed. The time glass syncs up the time streams for visits," she turned to Rory, who seemed just a bit confused, "You could be here for a day, watch them live out their entire lives."

"And watch them grow old in front of your eyes?" Rory frowned, catching on, "That's horrible."

"No, Rory, it's kind," the Doctor shook his head, "You've got a choice. Sit by their bedside for 24 hours and watch them die, or sit in here for 24 hours and watch them live. Which would you choose?"

The Professor picked up the glass only to hear Amy calling, "Doctor? Professor! Don't leave me!"

The Professor moved to the side of the room and held up the glass, the three of them looking at Amy through it as she sat at the table, "We're here, Amy," the Doctor called, "We're right here."

"Where are you? Am I looking at you?"

"Turn left, just a fraction," she moved slightly, "Bit more, stop. That's it."

"Eye to eye?"

"Eye to eye to eye to eye."

"Hello," Rory called.

"Amy, I'm taking the time glass back to the TARDIS," the Professor told her, "We're going to use it to get a lock, then…" she sighed, "Smash through using the TARDIS to get you out," she shook her head, the Doctor was starting to rub off on her.

The Doctor smirked and nudged her a bit, hearing that, "Until then, you're on your own," he added, sonicing the glass.

"What are you doing?" Rory asked.

"Locking on to Amy," the Professor explained.

"Small act of vandalism," the Doctor shrugged, "No one'll mind."

And then an alarm sounded.

" _Every time_ ," the Professor sighed.

The Doctor winced, "Ah, that will be the small act of vandalism alarm."

"Amy, we need you to go into the facility just for a bit," the Professor called over the noise, "Find somewhere safe and leave us a sign."

"Remember, you're immune to Chen-7, but don't let them give you anything. They don't know you're alien. Their kindness will kill you. Now go!"

They watched as Amy pressed the 'Check In' button and the door slid open. She turned to face them, "Rory, I love you. Now, save me. Go on."

The door slid shut.

The men exchanged a solemn look and the Professor lowered the glass, "Well, you heard the woman, come on!" and she dashed out the door.

~8~

The Professor placed the time glass into the console as she explained it to Rory, "This is locked on to Amy permanently. If we play the signal into the console, the TARDIS'll follow it."

The Doctor walked over and attached a cable to the glass, making it smoke before he dug through a tool chest of odds and ends on the floor, "Now then, I know you're in here. Um...er…ha ha!" he put on a pair of black rimmed glasses as he faced Rory, "How do I look?"

"Ridiculous," he stated.

"I concur," the Professor nodded.

"Oi!" he pointed at them, "Glasses are cool. See?" he pulled them off and put them on Rory, "Oh, yes. Hello handsome man."

Rory smiled, "Oh, hello."

The Professor laughed, "Hello, Rory-cam," she added.

"Huh?" he turned to see them on the monitor from the camera in the glasses, "Oh, you can see what I see."

"We're breaking into Two Streams," the Doctor explained quickly, "Now, we can't go in, the Chen-7'll kill us, no regeneration. You will be our eyes and ears."

"Rory-cam," he nodded, "Rescue Amy. Got it."

"That's the spirit! Now, smashing through a time wall could get a bit hairy."

"Is it safe?"

"Is the Doctor ever?" the Professor quipped as she crouched down, looking for something in the tool box.

"Well I've never tried this before," the Doctor conceded, "Best hold onto something."

~8~

The Doctor was laughing maniacally as he held onto the console, the TARDIS knocking them about as it crossed the time streams. Rory held onto the railing for dear life as the Professor simply used one hand to steady herself against the console, still digging in the box.

~8~

The TARDIS materialized in the Two Streams Facility once more, the Doctor waiting a moment to see if the phase would hold before cheering, "Ha ha! I knew you could do it old girl," he patted the console.

"Found it!" the Professor exclaimed, standing up. They looked over to see her putting a medical mask over her mouth and nose.

"What's that for?" Rory asked.

"For the Chen-7," she replied, her voice just a bit muffled.

"What?" the Doctor's eyes widened.

"Did you  _really_  think I'd let him go in there alone Doctor?" the Professor shook her head, tying the mask, "I'm going with him."

"What?" they both shouted.

She rolled her eyes, "I'm going…with Rory…to get Amy. She's my friend too and I was the one who told her where to get her phone," she sighed, "It's my fault she's stuck there, so I'm going to help rescue her."

"But…you can't!" the Doctor shook his head, walking over to her, alarmed, "Surviving Chen-7 once doesn't make you immune, it makes you more susceptible!"

~/~\~

_This couldn't be happening, it just couldn't._

_That was all he could think as he sat beside the bed, his chair so close that his legs were half under it as his elbows rested on the side of it, his hands clutching one of hers. He winced, closing his eyes as he pressed her hand to his forehead, hearing the four-beat rhythm on the monitor beside him, so weak._

_He'd just gotten back from a trip, it had been a culinary sort of class, teaching the students how to make different dishes from all over the Universe, Kata had recommended it, this last one had been about cheese making. He'd stepped off the shuttle, a wide grin on his face and a lump of cheese in his hands for her to try, only to see the Master and the Corsair standing there waiting for him instead of her. His grin fell instantly, something had to be wrong, especially when even the Master looked contrite._

_And then they'd told him..._

_One of the Academics had been working on a cure for Chen-7 in one of the labs of their wing...there had been an incident and the disease was released. The emergency systems had managed to contain it to the Academic wing, trapping nearly 100 Academics inside along with the 35 student assistants present at the time._

_He didn't have to be an Academic to put two and two together. She had started a sort of internship class for those interested in possibly becoming/applying for the Academic program, where they got to work with a current Academic for a short time to see what it was like before deciding._

_She had been in there._

_She'd been infected._

_She was, quite possibly, dead right that very second._

_He'd never run so fast in his life, trying to get to the Healers to see if she was alright. Chen-7 could be deadly, killing its victims within a day, few, if any, survived, only about 3 percent. He'd nearly collapsed when he got to the rooms and seen the Academics and students lying there, quite a few with sheets already pulled over their heads. The sample of Chen-7 that had been given to the Academic to experiment on had been altered slightly, making it not contagious from one person to another, but only when airborne. The emergency programs had cleansed out the Academic wing within minutes, but it hadn't been fast enough to save those who had already been locked inside._

_And there she was, so pale, her lips chapped, eyes closed, her chest rising and falling in a shallow manner, the monitor beside her playing her heartbeats for everyone to hear. He'd stationed himself beside her, refusing to leave. 3 percent survived, and she was a fighter. If anyone could pull through, be one of the 3 percent, it would be her._

_She wouldn't leave him. She'd promised she wouldn't. And Kata never broke her promises to him, NEVER._

_"Please," he whispered, clutching her hand tighter. It had been 25 hours from when she'd been infected. Three of the other infected, three Academics, had woken up, the rest of them and the students had passed on. It was just her left. Just about four people should statistically survive this. She HAD to be the last one! The fact that she'd made it past the 24 hour mark should have been a sign, but...she hadn't woken up yet, her pulse was still shaky, and her breathing was even more_   _shallow._

_"Please wake up," he pleaded, feeling his voice crack, "Please Kata, please don't leave me. You promised, remember? We promised to never leave each other. And...and those adventures! To meet Shakespeare and visit Rome and see Venice. And all those other things we were gonna do..." he looked over, still no change. He could feel tears in his eyes, "I promise I'll clean my room, if you wake up right now. I'll...I'll even pass my TARDIS exam. And I'll won't get you into trouble ever again just please...open your eyes..." he closed his eyes tightly again, pressing a small kiss to her hand, "Please Kata, wake up. For me, please...please Kata...please don't leave me..."_

_"Never...ever..." came a soft, breathy reply as he felt a small pressure on his hands as they were squeezed._

_He looked over, his eyes wide, to see her awake, smiling at him though her eyes drooping in exhaustion, "You're alive!" he grinned so widely he felt like his face was going to split open as he leaned over and brushed a lock of hair behind her ear, stroking her cheek, "Kata you're alive."_

_"Wouldn't leave you..." she murmured, sounding so tired._

_"Me either," he grinned, not caring that he was crying, "I'll never leave you either," and then he realized something, she was awake...he had to make sure she was still alright, "Healers!" he shouted, calling for them, wanting them to make sure, beyond a doubt, that she would be fine...because he couldn't lose her, not after getting her back._

_He just couldn't._

~/~\~

"It won't be stopped by a flimsy cloth mask, you know that. You won't survive this again! It'll stop both your hearts dead in 24 hours and…"

The Professor walked over to him, seeing him getting frantic, and put a hand over his mouth gently, " _Theta_ ," she said, her words in no language Rory could understand. The Doctor's eyes widened at their native tongue, " _The only thing that has ever stopped my hearts is you_ ," she smiled at him as his eyes softened. She pulled her hand away and continued in English, "Every time I see you or think about you for 900 years. I have no intention of changing that now," he looked down, "But…" he looked up, "If it'll make you feel better, I think we have one of those spacesuits lying around that I could use for more protection."

He looked at her a long while before nodding. She smiled and kissed his cheek, heading off into the TARDIS to find one. He knew there were two suits, but only one helmet as he'd broken quite a few of them. First with the pit, thankfully Ida had left hers there, and then on Bowie Base One…needless to say the Professor was much better at preserving her things than he was.

' _Be thankful for that,_ ' her voice echoed in his mind, ' _It's probably one of the reasons you're still alive._ '

' _Oi!_ ' he mock yelled, ' _I am not a thing, I am a person._ '

' _But you ARE mine,_ ' she reminded him.

He felt himself grinning at that, ' _Like you're mine,_ ' he agreed. It felt amazing to know that.

~8~

Rory stepped out of the TARDIS to see he was in a white gallery area, filled with paintings and statues. He held the door open more for the Professor to step out in an orange spacesuit. She had her blaster affixed to her belt along with a small loop for the sonic while Rory had a belt of his own with the time glass attached to it as he wore the glasses.

"Red waterfall," the Professor noted as she saw the icon on the wall.

"We made it!" Rory shouted happily.

"Good old us!" the Doctor cheered through the comms.. Even though he wasn't exactly happy that the Professor had gone out there, that he couldn't go with her, she had been right, there was another spacesuit around with a perfectly secure helmet. He'd soniced it himself, making sure it was secure, no rips or breaks anywhere. And he supposed it made sense to have  _her_  go out there, with the Handbots around Rory and Amy would need someone to watch their backs, not to mention they also needed someone in the TARDIS to keep track of things and keep the box from shifting into one of the other compressed time streams on accident.

"How do we know that we're in the same red waterfall as Amy?"

"Focus on the positive."

The Professor rolled her eyes, "We locked on to Amy's time stream…" she trailed off, seeing Rory eyeing the Venus de Milo's breasts, "Eyes front, soldier!"

"Right, yes, sorry," Rory shook his head and turned to face her.

"Apalapucians are the great cultural scavengers, Rory," the Doctor explained "This gallery's a scrapbook of their favorite places."

Rory nodded, it made sense, as he and the Professor started to walk down the hall, eyeing the various art pieces, "Bit of Earth, bit of alien, bit of...whatever the hell that is…"

"That's native Apalapucian," the Professor remarked.

"Where is everyone?" Rory frowned as they entered another room.

"Right, Professor…" the Doctor began.

"Switch the time glass on and sonic it," she nodded.

"Yes. I'll send a command to the screwdriver. Amy's here somewhere. If we can just get a lock on her. I wonder what happens if we mix the filters?"

"Oh, don't…" the Professor began, when there was a small sparking noise. She attempted to face palm when her hand came in contract with the helmet and she sighed. She shook her head out of her thoughts and went over to Rory who was holding up the time glass for her to sonic.

He held it up and they looked through, seeing hundreds of people milling about, out of focus, "And there they are," she breathed, "40,000 time streams overlapping. Red waterfall isn't one time stream. It's thousands."

"Are they happy?" Rory wondered.

"Oh, Rory," the Doctor chuckled just a bit, "Trust you to think of that. I think they're happy to be alive. Better than the alternative."

"Rory…" the Professor began slowly, spotting a figure slightly more in focus through the glass, charging at them, "Lower the glass."

Rory did so and fell backwards as someone in armor that looked like mismatching pieces of metallic mesh and Handbot parts charged at him with a katana, "We come in peace!" he shouted, holding his hands up, "Peace, peace, peace, peace!"

The figure moved to swing the katana down at him when the Professor caught its wrist, halting it. The figure turned, as though to twist out of the grip, only to see the Professor's blaster aimed at their head.

Green eyes glared at the Professor through a crack of the armor, long red hair spilling around it, "I waited!" the warrior shouted, her voice hidden under a computerized overlay, but the Professor recognized it regardless and let her go in shock.

"Sorry, what?" Rory looked between the women as the warrior turned to look down at him.

"I waited for you! I waited!" she lifted her visor to reveal an older Amy.

"Amy…Professor, what's going on? Doctor?"

"Oh my God…" the Professor shook her head, alarmed.

"Er..." was all the Doctor could offer.

"Amy…" Rory stood.

"I think the time stream lock might be a bit wobbly…" the Doctor tried again.

"You  _think_?" the Professor grumbled.

Amy drew her sword as though to strike and Rory held up his hands, "No, please…please!"

"Duck Rory!" the Professor shouted, grabbing his arm and pulling him down as Amy stabbed the katana through a Handbot's head that had snuck up behind him. It fell backwards onto the floor. The Professor stood up again, walking over to it, looking over Amy's shoulder at what she was doing to it while Rory just looked on shocked.

"Handbots carry a black box in case they go offline," Amy explained, crouched beside it, "I've changed the cause of termination from hostile to accidental. Easy to reprogram. Using my sonic probe," she replaced the box.

"Impressive," the Professor nodded, watching her work.

"Amy…" Rory began.

Amy looked over her shoulder at him, "Rory."

"Why?"

"I've survived this long by making the Handbots think I don't exist," she turned back, "Don't touch the hands," she warned, "Anesthetic transfer. If they touch you, you go to sleep."

The Professor nodded and stood back up, "Handy to know."

"But you're still here?" Rory shook his head, unable to get past that part.

"You didn't save me," Amy told him before standing up and striding off.

"This  _is_ the saving!" Rory ran after her along with the Professor, " _This_  is the us saving you! The Doctor just got the timing a bit out!"

"Sorry," the Doctor murmured. He'd been in charge of pinpointing the timeline and landing while the Professor was to focus on keeping the TARDIS locked on to the timeline in question.

Amy stopped and turned around, not looking either of them in the eye, "I've been on my own here a long, long time. I've had decades to think nice thoughts about him," her gaze flickered to the Professor, "About the both of you," and back down, "Got a bit harder to stay charitable once I entered decade four."

"40 years?" Rory gaped, "Alone?"

"36 years," the Professor cut in at the same time as Amy, though Amy added a sarcastic, "Thanks!" at the end.

"36 years, three months, four days, yes?" the Professor asked, eyeing Amy.

She nodded, a bit startled she'd been able to pinpoint that much without touching her to scan her.

"No," Rory shook his head, trying to backtrack, "Right, I mean...you look great. Really. Really…"

"Eyes front, soldier," Amy remarked, unintentionally mimicking the Professor's earlier words.

"Still can't win then?" he tried to joke.

"In fact," Amy continued, "I think I can now definitely say I hate him. I hate the Doctor and I hate you," she glared at the Professor, "I hate you both more than I've ever hated anyone in my life," she walked closer to Rory, staring at the camera in the glasses, "You can hear every word of this through those ridiculous glasses, can't you, Raggedy Man?"

"Ah," the Doctor's voice grew louder, "Yes. Putting the speaker phone on."

"You two told me to wait. And I did. A lifetime."

"Amy..." the Professor began, taking a step towards her but Amy stepped back.

"You've got nothing to say to me."

"Behind you!" the Doctor shouted.

Amy spun around to see two Handbots closing in on them. She tossed her staff to Rory and ducked under the robotic arms, pressing their hands together, short-circuiting them, "Feedback. Knocks them out. Learned that trick on my first day," she stood up and stormed out.

~8~

Rory and the Professor followed Amy along a corridor, "Ok, so we just take the TARDIS back to the right time stream, yeah? We can stop any of this happening."

"We locked on to a time stream, Rory," the Professor told him gently, "This is it."

"This is so wrong."

"I got old, Rory, what did you think was going to happen?" Amy snapped.

"Hey!" he grabbed her arm and turned her to face him, "I don't care that you got old! I care that we didn't grow old together. Amy, come on, please."

She pulled her arm away from him, "Don't touch me. Don't do that," and continued walking.

"It's like you're not even her."

"Like the Professor said, 36 years, three months, four days…of solitary confinement," she stopped in front of a door and looked at the Doctor over the glasses, "This facility was built to give people the chance to live. I walked in here and I died. Do you have anything to say? Anything, Doctor? Hmm, Professor?"

The Professor blinked and looked Amy dead in the eye, "There are worse things than solitary confinement Amy."

"Where did you get a sonic screwdriver?" the Doctor asked a moment later before Amy could respond, sounding far too curious for his own good.

"I made it," Amy turned back to the glasses, "And it's a sonic probe."

"You made a sonic screwdriver?" Rory frowned.

"Probe!" she corrected before stepping through the doors and into a room containing what the Professor recognized as temporal engines.

Rory followed her through a curtain made of miscellaneous materials between two engines and into a small alcove. In the corner was a Handbot, "Oh!" he gasped but it turned around and there was a smiley face drawn on him with a tuft of hair.

The Professor smiled, knowing who Amy was trying to recreate in the robot.

"Don't worry about him," Amy called, "Sit down, Rory."

Both Rory and the Handbot sat down and Rory realized it as well, "You named him after me?"

"Needed a bit of company."

"So, he's like your..."

"Pet."

Rory glanced at the Handbot as the Professor watched Amy pick up her lipstick and twist it open, "Is it safe?" he asked.

"Yep. I disarmed it."

"How?" Rory frowned.

"Rory," the Professor called as Amy hesitated lifting the lipstick to her mouth and pointed at the arms of the Handbot, sans the hands.

"Oh, you...dis _armed_  it."

"Oh, don't get sentimental," Amy muttered, though the Professor guessed it was directed more at herself than Rory, before she turned to face them, "It's just a robot, you'd have done the same."

"I don't know that I would have," the Doctor called.

"And there he is," Amy nearly spat, "The voice of God. Survive. 'Cos no one's going to come for you. Number one lesson," she turned to stare into the glasses, "You taught me that."

"Is that really all I taught you?"

"Don't you lecture me, blue box man, flying through time and space on whimsy. All I've got, all I've had for 36 years, is cold, hard reality. So, no, I don't have a sonic screwdriver because I'm not off on a romp. I call it what it is, a probe. And I call my life what it is...Hell."

"Oh shut up," the Professor rolled her eyes as Amy turned away.

"What?" Amy demanded as she spun around to glare at the Professor.

"36 years, three months, four days," she repeated, "That's how long you've been alone, stuck in this facility, running around, avoiding Handbots, exploring, with a score of entertainment to sneak into and around…" Amy opened her mouth to speak when the Professor held up her hand, "How long was  _Rory_  alone for? Hmm?" Amy glanced at Rory who seemed shocked the Professor was bringing that up, "Almost 2,000 years Amy, alone, and quite a few centuries of that were spent in the underhenge, staring at a rock wall, with absolutely nothing but the statues of our enemies as company. So don't you  _dare_  bring up how long you've been here again while your husband is here, do you understand me?"

Amy looked away, the barest hint of a tear in her eyes, as she gave a minute nod.

The Professor nodded as well, "Good."

"Amy Pond," the Doctor called, wanting to alleviate the situation, "I am going to put this right. You said you learned from an interface. Can I speak with it?"

"Doesn't work in here," she checked her watch, "2:23, the garden'll be clear now," she looked at Rory and the Professor, "Stay or go?"

"Sorry, us?" Rory looked shocked again, "No, we're coming with you!"

"Then try not to get killed. Or do. Whatever."

She turned to leave and Rory followed slowly, the Professor giving him a squeeze on the shoulder before she stepped past him after Amy, Rory coming soon after.

~8~

"When I first came here, I had to trick the interface into giving me the information," Amy told them as they entered the garden, "But I've reprogrammed it now. It'll tell me anything except how to escape."

"You hacked it?" Rory's eyes widened, "That's genius!"

"Sorry to interrupt that beautiful moment," the Doctor called over the comm., "But temporal engines have a regulator valve, which has to be kept from the main reactor or there's feedback. Interface, where's the regulator?"

"The regulator valve is held within," the interface stated as a hologram appeared before the three of them, the glasses recording it for the Doctor.

"Ah! Oh, very, very ah!"

The Professor shook her head and called out, "Interface, we'll need to run through some technical specifications."

"Rory, give me to Amy a minute," the Doctor requested, getting back on topic.

"Here you go," he took off the glasses and moved to put them on Amy but she stepped back from him. He tried his best not to flinch at how she'd avoided contact and handed her the glasses instead.

She eyed them hesitantly before slipping them on, "They look ridiculous."

"That's what we both told him," the Professor remarked, eyeing the hologram still.

"Still, anything beats a fez, eh?" Rory joked. Amy laughed a moment but stopped suddenly with a thoughtful frown, "What is it?"

"I think that's the first time I've laughed in 36…" she paused, "In a while," she amended with a glance at the Professor who was frowning, not at the reference to time but at the first statement.

Rory looked at Amy for a moment longer before glancing at the Professor who was tilting her head staring at the hologram, no doubt communicating silently with the Doctor in the process, and back to Amy, "I'll just, um, leave you three geniuses alone. I'll be back in a minute," he turned and walked off a bit.

The Professor watched him go a moment, before eyeing Amy as she watched him as well, "There's still time, Amy," she told her.

"There's still time to fix everything," the Doctor agreed.

"Oh and how?" Amy glared at the Professor since she couldn't do so to the Doctor, "How is the Doctor going to make it all better?"

The Professor tensed, her fist clenching just a bit, "Amy…I'm trying  _very_  hard to be very calm right now despite your attitude…don't make me 'teach you a lesson,' yeah?"

Amy glanced at her fist, her grip on her katana tightening, "I'm not the same girl who stepped out of the TARDIS, I can handle myself well enough thanks."

The Professor eyed the katana as well, "I may have taught you the basics of how to use a sword Amy," she began, she had taught Amy that after they'd left George and Alex. Amy had gotten captured far too easily and she wanted to teach the girl how to defend herself, true it had been with a stick and not a sword, but the same principles applied, "But you are nowhere near being up to par against me. Don't even try."

Amy stared the woman down for a moment when her watch beeped. She looked down at it and then over her shoulder where Rory had gone before dashing off. The Professor followed after her, the two running around a corner to see Rory fall to the ground, stunned, after a Handbot had touched him.

"Do not be alarmed," it was saying, "This is a kindness…" its head started to open, ready to fire a dart of medicine at him when Amy slashed it with her katana, knocking off its head.

"Oh," Rory moaned.

"Rory?" Amy knelt beside him.

"Glasses."

Amy stood up and turned away, angrier at herself for getting so worried than Rory, "You stupid..."

"Oh!" Rory's eyes widened as the effects fully wore off. He glanced at the headless Handbot, "You saved me."

"Don't get used to it."

Rory frowned, "Have you been crying? A little bit?"

"Shut up, Rory."

"You have, haven't you?"

"Woman with a sword. Don't push it."

Rory raised his hands in surrender and the Professor held out a hand, helping him up, scanning him with the sonic just to be sure the anesthetic had worn off.

The Doctor chuckled a little bit over the comm. before speaking again, "Ok, so here's the plan. Time is always a bit wibbly wobbly, but in Two Streams it's extra wubbly."

Amy handed the glasses back to Rory as the Professor picked up, actually talking scientific instead of Doctor, "We've worked out how to hijack the temporal engines and then fold two points of Amy's timeline together."

Rory just looked at her, confused, till the Doctor continued, "We're bringing her out of the then and into the now!" he nodded, "Amy, I just need to borrow your brain a minute, it won't hurt, probably…almost probably...and then, Amy Pond, we're going to save you."

Amy stared between the glasses and the Professor before glaring, "No!" she shouted, pulling out her probe and glancing at her watch, "Time's up, Handbots coming."

She turned and stormed out of the garden, leading them back to the facility, "Amy, you've got to help us help you," the Professor called as they ran after her.

"We need you to think back 36 years ago," the Doctor agreed, but Amy was silent, "Amy? Amy!" she ignored him, striding into the temporal engine room.

The Professor frowned, seeing faded red smudges on the door, and quickly scanned it with the sonic. Her eyes widened at the reading and she turned to Rory, "Rory, lift the glass will you?"

He held up the time glass to see the door as though it were 36 years fresher. The Professor walked over to see the faded markings in crystal clear lipstick, writing, 'Doctor Professor, I'm here,' with an arrow pointing to the door.

"You told her to leave us a sign," Rory muttered, "And she did. And she waited. Oh, Amy," he sighed, lowering the glass and heading into the engine room with the Professor. He saw Amy heading for her curtained area and ran over, "Why won't you help yourself?"

"They want to rescue Past Me from thirt…when I got trapped here," Amy told him, "Which means I'll cease to exist. Everything I've seen and done dissolves, time is rewritten."

He stopped, "That's...that's good, isn't it?"

"I will  _die_. Another Amy will take my place, an Amy who never got trapped at Two Streams, who grew old with you, and she, in the same amount of time, won't be  _me_."

"But you'll die in here."

"Not if you take me with you," she glanced at the Professor, "You came to rescue me, so rescue me."

"Leave her and take you?" Rory frowned, looking at the Professor.

"We  _could_  take this Amy with us," she nodded, "But if we do, our Amy has to wait 36 years to be rescued."

"So I have to choose, which wife do I want?"

"She  _is_  me," Amy cut in, "We're both me."

"You being here is wrong. For a single day, an hour, let alone a lifetime. I swore to protect you...I promised."

Amy just turned and went through the curtain.

"Rory…" the Doctor began over the comm..

"This is your fault," Rory muttered.

"Rory…" the Professor shook her head as the Doctor said, "I'm so sorry, but Rory…"

"No!" Rory turned around to yell at the both of them, "This is your fault! You should look in a history book once in a while, see if there's an outbreak of plague or not."

"That is not how I travel," the Doctor remarked.

"Then I do  _not_  want to travel with you!" he ripped off the glasses and threw them away, only for the Professor to catch them in her hand. He shook his head and looked away.

"Professor," the Doctor called after a moment, "Is the time glass still on? If the link's still active, I think I can hear Amy. Our Amy."

"It should be," she remarked, looking at Rory.

He lifted the time glass and looked around the engine room before heading into the curtained area. And there, standing before him was Amy, young Amy, her head bowed, crying by the wall, "Oh, Amy," he breathed, walking more into the room while looking through the glass. Young Amy turned and looked over as though hearing him. He lowered the glass and walked over to Older Amy, kneeling before her as the Professor stepped into the room, standing by the curtain silently, "Look me in the face and say you won't help her."

Amy looked him dead in the eye, "I will not help her."

"Ok...ok," he walked over to the Professor, thinking a moment, before turning and leaning against a vent, holding the glass before him, "Look me in the face and say it now," he switched it on and Younger Amy appeared, crying.

"Rory?" she looked up suddenly, hearing him, "Rory is that you?" the Professor walked over and soniced the glass, making it visible in the past. Younger Amy walked closer, peering through, she could see them, "Rory, where are you?"

"Same place as you, and a bit ahead," he called.

Older Amy looked up, startled, peering at her younger self, "I remember this."

"But who's she?" Younger Amy asked, "There's no one else here, but...me…" Rory glanced at the Professor, handing her the time glass before he stepped outside the room, "Why are we still here?"

"Because they leave you. Because they get in their TARDIS and they fly away."

"No, Rory wouldn't, not ever. Something must have stopped him."

"You did. Or rather, the old version of you. The me version of you. I refuse to help them. I won't let them save myself."

"Why?"

"If you escape, then I was never trapped here, the last 36 years of my life rewrites, and I cease to exist. That's why Old Me refused to help then...that's why I'm refusing to help now...and that's why you'll refuse to help when it's your turn. Nothing you can say will change that."

"Three words. What about Rory?"

"Rory? I...I called my robot Rory."

"You called your robot Rory? You didn't call it 'the Doctor,' or 'the Professor' even, or 'Biggles,' our favorite cat?"

"Do you um...remember that summer when he came back to school with that ridiculous haircut?"

"He said he'd been in a rock band."

"Liar," they both said with a laugh.

"And then he had to learn to play the guitar," Older Amy continued.

"So we wouldn't know he couldn't play it. Mhmm."

The Professor smiled lightly at that.

"All those boys chasing me, but it was only ever Rory," the Older Amy frowned, "Why was that?"

"You know when sometimes you meet someone so beautiful, and then you actually talk to them, and five minutes later they're as dull as a brick? Then there's other people, and you meet them and think, 'Not bad, they're ok.' And then you get to know them...and their face just sort of becomes them. Like their personality's written all over it. And they just turn into something so beautiful?"

"Rory's the most beautiful man I've ever met," they said at once.

"Please," Younger Amy pleaded, "Do it for  _him_."

"You're asking me to defy destiny, causality, the nexus of time itself, for a boy?"

The Professor couldn't help but smile at that, she had done the very same quite a few times.

"You're Amy...he's Rory...and oh, yes, I am," Younger Amy finished.

Older Amy looked away a moment before nodding at the Professor who put the time glass down, watching as Older Amy strode out of the room. She walked over and peered out the curtain, not wanting to interrupt whatever was about to happen.

"I'm going to pull time apart for you," Older Amy told Rory before kissing him gently and hugging him, allowing herself to cry on his shoulder.

The Professor stepped out after a moment and put a hand on Older Amy's shoulder. She looked up, startled, but the Professor merely smiled reassuringly at her.

~8~

"Ok, Doctor," Older Amy spoke as she led them through the temporal engine room, "Two Streams is back on air. Right, ok, so this is big news, this is temporal earthquake time. I am now officially changing my own future. Hold on to your spectacles. In my past, I saw my future self refuse to help you. I'm now changing that future and agreeing. Every law of time says that shouldn't be possible."

"Yes, except sometimes knowing your own future is what enables you to change it," he remarked.

"Especially if you're bloody minded, contradictory, and completely unpredictable," the Professor smiled.

"So, basically, if you're Amy, then?" Rory asked as they stepped out onto the open area just outside the doors.

"Yes," the Doctor agreed, "If anyone could defeat predestiny, it's your wife."

"Yours as well," Rory remarked.

"Tell me about it."

The Professor flashed the sonic at the specs on Rory's face and there was a terrible feedback for both him and the Doctor, making them wince, "Watch it, both of you," she warned.

"Sorry," they both said quickly.

"It's not about what I'm doing," Older Amy cut in, "But who I'm doing it for. I'm trusting you to watch my back, Rory."

"Always," he nodded, "You and me, always."

' _Sound familiar?_ ' the Professor called to the Doctor softly, she could almost feel him smile in her mind.

"'Cos here's the deal..." Older Amy continued, "You take me too in the TARDIS. Me too."

The Professor looked over at her sharply, a frown on her face, and she knew the Doctor was frowning as well.

"But that means that there'll be two of you, permanently, forever," Rory said slowly.

"And that way we both get to live."

"Two Amys together," he looked at the Professor, "Can that work?"

"I don't know," the Doctor replied, cutting off whatever the Professor was about to say, "It's your marriage."

"Doctor!"

"Perhaps," the Professor answered after a moment, "Maybe…"

"If I shunted the reality compensators on the TARDIS, recalibrated the doomsday bumpers and jettisoned the karaoke bar," the Doctor listed, "Yes, maybe, yes."

"It  _could_  do it. The TARDIS could sustain the paradox."

But neither were about to tell Rory that to do so for even a second would destroy them all and cause another Pandorica event…

"Right," Rory nodded, "Amy..." he held up the glass to see Younger Amy standing there, "And Amy. The wife and the wife, right."

"Ok, Amy…" the Doctor began.

"Past Amy," the Professor clarified.

"Stand by the door."

"Future Amy, you too."

"Future Amy, can I borrow your sonic scr...probe?"

Older Amy smirked at the glasses, "It's a screwdriver!" and tossed it to the Professor. She quickly soniced it with the Doctor's sonic.

"There," she told Older Amy, tossing it back as the woman walked to the door, "Doubled our power."

"Amy Now, you're our link to Amy Then," the Doctor explained, "We need to get a signal through. That signal will be a thought. Amy Now and Amy Then, share a thought."

The Professor smiled, "Something so powerful that it can rip through time," she told them, seeing Older Amy glance at Rory.

"Rory," the Doctor called, "Sonic the plinth front," the Professor tossed him the sonic for him to do it, "Inside you'll find three levers and a jumble of wiring."

"That's the regulator valve," the Professor called.

"After we've rebooted, you have ten minutes to get back to the TARDIS."

"Ok," he nodded.

"Pull out the red and green receptors, reroute blue into red and green into blue. Leave red loose and on no account touch anything yellow," Rory pulled out the green and blue wires and stared at them in complete confusion, "Come on, Rory. It's hardly rocket science."

"Yes, it's just quantum physics," the Professor remarked dryly, walking over and taking the wires from him, plugging the blue into the red, the green into the blue, leaving the red hanging there.

"Now the lever. Throw them in order!"

"Amys," the Professor called, "Start thinking the most important thought you've ever had. Hold it in your head and do  _not_  let it go!"

Older Amy nodded.

"Lever one!" the Doctor ordered and Rory pulled it.

"Macarena," Older Amy muttered to herself, "Macarena," she started to sway, "Macarena."

"She's doing 'The Macarena,'" Rory looked up at her.

"Macarena. Macarena."

"Our first kiss," he breathed and the Professor smiled, reaching past him to pull the second lever. Younger Amy started to flicker in and out of sight across from Older Amy.

"Lever three," the Doctor called.

Rory shook his head and pulled the last lever.

The time glass shattered and Younger Amy appeared, solid and whole, before them.

"Oh, Amy!" Rory breathed, running over.

"Oh, my God," Younger Amy's eyes widened, seeing her older self.

"Oh, my God," her older self agreed.

Rory reached them and pulled Younger Amy into a hug, spinning her around till they broke apart with giggles. Rory stiffened a bit, remembering Older Amy was there as well, "Sorry..."

"Hello," Older Amy greeted.

"Hello!" Younger Amy cheered.

"I don't know what to…" they both started at once.

"Weird," Rory whispered.

"Ok, this is weird," they said again, "Right, just...stop doing that."

"How about Amy One speaks first?"

"Which one's Amy One?" they looked at him.

"Well..."

"I am," and back at each other, "No, I am! Rory! Rory...just stop doing that!"

The glasses started to spark, "Ah!"

"Rory," the Professor ran over and pulled the glasses off, "Take the glasses off. You're getting temporal feedback."

"Whoa!" they heard the Doctor shout, the sound of the TARDIS sparking in the background, "Calm down, dear! Professor, Rory, Amys, we've created a massive paradox and the TARDIS hates it."

The Professor winced, hearing the grinding noise of the TARDIS, "She's self-phasing, isn't she? Trying to get out of here?"

"What's nasty Amy done to you?" the Doctor murmured to the TARDIS, confirming her question, "Just calm down. Hang on in there. You've got eight minutes left. I'm sorry, you're on your own now," he was silent for a moment but the Professor could hear him in her mind, ' _Please, get back._ '

She nodded to herself as Rory looked over at them, "I'm not on my own. I've got my wives," he held up both thumbs at them.

"Do not be alarmed..." they heard a Handbot start to say and spun around to see three of them marching towards them.

"Incoming!" Rory shouted as the Professor readied her blaster.

"…this is a kindness."

Older Amy tossed herself her staff, "With me."

"Do not be alarmed, this is a kindness. This is a kindness."

Rory, the Amys, and the Professor took position, getting ready to attack. Older Amy crept along the wall by the Handbots and attacked, taking out one of them before looking back at herself, "Amy, Kate Hayler, year ten hockey."

"Go for the shins!" Amy growled and slammed the staff into the Handbot's shins, causing it to flip over.

Rory tried to push one away while still trying to keep back from its hands when…

"Rory duck!" the Professor shouted. He ducked down as a shot flew over his head, striking the Handbot in the head, knocking it straight back. Unfortunately, it wasn't over. Five more Handbots appeared, "They're cutting off the departure gate," the Professor told them.

"We can't get back to the TARDIS!" Rory's eyes widened.

"Side door," Older Amy called, "We'll go behind them," she jumped over the counter beside them and led them out through a back hall and into another door, down the stairs.

"Think you're coming with us, just like that?" Younger Amy asked, the topic having been on her mind since she heard her older self say it before they pulled her out of the past.

"Yeah, just like that," Older Amy nodded.

"Rory, talk to her!"

"Rory! Talk to her!"

"Now, ladies..." Rory tried.

"No time," the Professor said, rushing past them, "We've got 6 minutes to get to the TARDIS, and I've got 5 minutes of sterile air left…move!"

The Amys glanced at each other before hurrying after her with Rory. They ran through another door to the maintenance room, Older Amy moving to take the lead again.

"Where are you going to live?" Younger Amy just couldn't help but ask.

"Not with you, don't worry," Older Amy assured her, "I'll go travelling. Pop back for Christmas, maybe Easter."

"Amy, you always say, cooking Christmas dinner, you wish there was two of you," Rory remarked.

"Again," the Professor cut in, "Not the time."

Older Amy pushed open a door to the gate room, her younger self and the Professor taking up position at the door with the staff and blaster as lookouts while Older Amy and Rory moved to get the gate working. Older Amy flashed the sonic probe on the door.

"Can't we just teleport in?" Rory asked her.

"It's not a teleport, it's a time jump," she replied.

"They can't shunt within the same time stream," Younger Amy added.

Her older self looked up, a bit stunned at how she knew that, "Yes."

"The TARDIS is in the Gallery," the Professor reminded Older Amy.

"Gallery closed," the interface stated.

"Controls are stuck," Older Amy remarked, pressing a button, "They've locked them from outside."

"Can you unlock them?" Rory asked.

"Yeah, give me a minute and your cutest smile," Rory smiled at her quickly, "That's the one."

"Can you stop flirting with me? You're old enough to be…"

"I've known you my whole life. How many games of Doctors and Nurses?"

"Shh!"

"Don't get coy now."

All the gate doors opened and Handbots entered, "Do not be alarmed. This is a kindness…"

"Amy!" the Professor called and they both turned but she was looking at Younger Amy, holding out her hand for the staff. Amy tossed it to her and she ran over to Older Amy's side in the forefront between the gate to the Gallery and the Handbots.

"Do not be alarmed. This is a kindness…"

The Professor tossed Rory the sonic and he used it on the controls, opening the gate.

"Do not be alarmed. This is a kindness…."

Older Amy led the way through the gate, the Professor snatching the sonic back from Rory to sonic the gate shut behind them. They stopped short at the sight of a number of Handbots waiting for them. The Professor and Older Amy exchanged a look and a quick nod before running at the Handbtos, attacking with the sword and staff, while Amy and Rory ran along the side of the room to the other end.

"Come on!" they called to the Professor and Older Amy.

"Go!" the Professor shouted at them.

"We've got your back!" Older Amy agreed.

Rory and Amy exchanged a look before rushing through the door, leaving the two women to finish attacking the Handbots. It was relatively easy for the Professor, they were rather slow robots and not programmed to attack, so it was far more like just knocking them over than really stopping them.

They made quick work of the robots and ran through the door in time to see Rory carrying an unconscious Younger Amy to the TARDIS, two Handbots shorted out in the middle of the room. He kicked the door open and ran in with Amy.

~8~

The Doctor ran over, seeing the doors fly open and Rory carry Amy in. Rory laid her on the floor as the Doctor covered her with his jacket, "Ah, it's just an anesthetic. She'll be fine…the Professor!" he leapt up and ran to the door, looking out at the two women on the other side of the room.

' _Kata run!_ ' he called to her, ' _You need to make it in before Amy!_ '

Older Amy threw aside her sword and ran for the TARDIS, but the Professor was faster. She reached the door, the Doctor holding out his arm to pull her in, but she shook her head, "I'm sorry," she whispered, shoving him back and shutting the doors, turning around to keep Older Amy back.

The Doctor looked up from the floor, stunned, his eyes wide in terror as he stared at the closed doors. He couldn't open them, he couldn't risk Older Amy getting in…but the Professor…

' _Lock the doors!_ ' he heard her shout in his mind, he shook his head, ' _Theta! Lock the doors!_ '

He jumped up, trusting that she'd thought of something and locked the doors, "What are you doing?" Rory ran over.

"We lied to her, Rory," he told him quietly.

"Let me go!" they heard Older Amy struggling and then a pounding on the door, "Doctor? Let me in!"

"There can't be two Amys in the TARDIS," he continued, "The paradox is too massive."

"She'll die!" Rory tried to push past him, "The Professor will die!"

The Doctor shoved him back as they heard Older Amy struggle again, "Amy get back!" the Professor shouted.

"No, she'll never have existed," the Doctor shook his head, "When we save our Amy, this future won't have happened."

"But she happened!" Rory argued, "She's there! And the Professor hasn't got much air left!"

"I trusted you!" they heard her snap at the Professor.

"I'm sorry," the Professor whispered to her.

"Let them in!" Rory shouted.

"Look, I can't!" the Doctor rounded on him, "I can't open the door, we take this Amy, we leave ours. There can only be one Amy in the TARDIS. And if I open that door for the Professor, she'll get in. So which one do you want?" he put Rory's hand on the latch, "It's your choice."

"This isn't fair. You're turning me into you."

"Your choice, Rory," he whispered and looked away, unable to face the fact that his wife might be dying on the other side of the door right now as well. But he had to trust she knew what she was doing when she shut the doors, that she had a plan. She really could think faster than him, there was a chance she figured something out that he'd missed…he had to hope…

"Doctor?" Older Amy pounded on the door but he walked away, "Doctor! Doctor? Doctor!" he walked over to the console, needing to key into the comm. of the spacesuit, "Rory? Please," Rory looked up and saw Older Amy's hand on the window of the TARDIS and put his hand against hers, "The look on your face when you carried her. Me. Her. When you carried her away, you used to look at me like that. I'd forgotten how much you loved me. I'd forgotten how much I loved being her. Amy Pond, in the TARDIS, with Rory Williams."

"I'm sorry, I can't do this," he started to turn the latch.

"If you love me, don't let me in," Older Amy told him, making him stop, "Open that door, I will, I'll come in. I don't want to die. I won't bow out bravely. I'll be kicking and screaming, fighting. To the end."

"Oh, Amy. Amy, I love you."

"I love you too. Don't let me in. Tell Amy, your Amy, I'm giving her the days. The days with you. The days to come."

"I'm so, so sorry."

"The days I can't have. Take them, please. I'm giving you my days."

"I'm so, so sorry," he whispered.

"Amy," he heard the Professor whisper, a slight gasp in her breathing, the air must have been running out, "Back away."

~8~

Older Amy stepped back from the TARDIS and the Professor pressed a button on the collar of her helmet, activating the comm., "Doctor?"

"Professor!" he shouted.

"Do not be alarmed. This is a kindness," they turned around to see five Handbots had made it through the gate, "Do not be alarmed. This is a kindness."

"Professor!" he shouted again, drawing her attention back.

"Go," she told him.

"But…"

"She shouldn't be alone in this Doctor," she cut in, "After you dematerialize this Amy will fade, but you'll have a 30 second window before time snaps back to come and get me," she smiled to herself a bit, "Don't be late."

"I promise," he whispered.

And a moment later, the wheezing of the engines picked up.

She turned to Older Amy to see her standing tense at the sight of the Handbots and so she quickly fired five quick blasts, knocking them down, startling Amy. She walked over and hugged her tightly as the box began to fade.

"I was there for you when we went into that school," she whispered to Older Amy as the woman clutched her, "I was there when you gave birth. And I'll be here for you now. You will never be alone Amelia Pond."

"Thank you," Older Amy whispered into her shoulder as she let herself cry once more before breathing out, fading away in one swift moment.

The Professor took a breath, one of the few she had left and turned around, waiting till the familiar wheezing returned…

~8~

Rory sat on the stairs, watching Amy sleep, now on the jump seat, while the Doctor helped the Professor remove her suit, "Did you always know it would never work?" he asked them, "Saving both Amys?"

They exchanged a look and the Doctor sighed, "We promised you we'd save her and there she is," he swallowed hard.

"Safe," the Professor added, taking the Doctor's hand, "Both of us."

She knew her little move had frightened the daylights out of him. Not only having to leave her in a soon to be aborted timeline, but in a facility with deadly robots, infested with a plague that could kill her, in a suit running out of air…

"Yeah," Rory nodded, "There she is."

The Professor glanced down as Amy started to wake up, Rory running to her side, and smiled, "We'll leave you two alone."

Rory nodded as they walked off, hand-in-hand, his attention on Amy, "You alright?"

"Mhmm," she nodded.

"How you feeling?"

"Where is she?"

The Doctor and Professor turned a corner, their words fading as they walked down the halls, to their room. The Doctor opened the door and tugged her inside, turning to hug her tightly as soon as the door was shut, burying his face in her hair as he just reassured himself that she was alright.

She smiled, running a hand through his hair before trailing her hands down his arms to take his hands, pulling him to the bed, the two of them climbing on and just laying there, in each others arms, right now, they just needed to be with each other more than ever.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope the Professor wasn't too harsh with Amy about the whole 36 years thing. That always sort of annoyed me, how she kept going on about 36 years when Rory, the boy who waited almost 2,000 years, was right there.


	14. The God Complex

The Doctor popped his head over the railing of a stairwell, looking down it at Amy and Rory then up at the Professor before rushing up the stairs towards her, Amy and Rory catching up a moment later.

"'Let's go to Ravan-Skala,' he says," Amy grumbled as they reached the Time Lords, "'The people are 600 feet tall, you have to talk to them in hot air balloons and the Tourist Information Center is made of one of their hats,' he says. I'm sorry, but I don't see any huge hats."

"Amy, Beaky," the Doctor looked between them excitedly, "This could be _the_  most exciting thing I have ever seen!"

"You're kidding," Rory deadpanned.

"Unfortunately, no," the Professor remarked. This  _was_  fairly exciting. It wasn't often they were pulled somewhere out of their control, and to find themselves in a recreation of an 80s hotel much like they were now…well, she couldn't deny she was curious as to what was going on.

"How can you be excited about a rubbish hotel on a rubbish bit of Earth?" Amy asked them.

"Because, assembled Ponds…" the Doctor grinned, "This is not Earth."

"This has just been made to  _look_  like Earth," the Professor said, reaching out to touch one of the pillars beside the stairs, it was very,  _very_ sophisticated simulation, "The craftsmanship involved..." she shook her head and looked at the Doctor, "Can you imagine?"

"What?" Amy frowned, "Then where are we?"

They headed back down a few floors to where the TARDIS was stationed, potted plants and framed portraits hanging on the wall around it, "We don't know," the Doctor said, not even the Professor was getting a specific reading, they must have been drifting on something, "Something must have yanked us off course. Look at the detail on that cheese plant!" he ran over to it and deeply inhaled the leaf.

"Right, but who would mock up an Earth hotel?" Rory shook his head, confused.

The Doctor took an apple from a bowl and tossed it in his hand, "Colonists maybe, recreating a bit of home, like when ex-pats open English pubs in Majorca," he took a bite, "No, whoever did this, I am shaking his/her hand/tentacle…" and then he grimaced and turned, spitting the apple bits he'd been chewing into the potted plant beside him.

The Professor laughed and walked over to him, taking the apple from him, "Forgot this one hates apples?" she asked, taking a bite herself and chewing.

"Have you seen these?" they heard Rory ask and turned to see him looking at the portraits, "Look at the labels underneath," he squinted, reading the label under a Sontaran, "'Commander Halke, defeat…'" then the next one, a human male, "'Tim Heath, having his photo taken…'" then another woman, "'Lady Silver-Tear...Daleks.'"

The Doctor and Professor exchanged a look and walked over as Amy looked at some as well, "'Paige Barnes, other people's socks. Tim Nelson, balloons. Novice Prin, sabrewolves. Royston Luke Gold, Plymouth. Lucy Hayward, that brutal gorilla…'" she shook her head and turned to them, "What does it mean?"

"Don't know," the Doctor shrugged, looking at the Professor with a grin.

She swallowed her apple and took his hand, "Let's find out!" she said excitedly, pulling him down the stairs.

~8~

The Doctor tapped the bell on the desk of reception as the Professor tossed the apple core into a waste bin off to the side. She'd just turned back when three people ran around the corner, one, a young Indian woman, brandishing a chair leg at them.

"Blimey, that was quick," the Doctor muttered. But the woman turned the chair leg on him and he ducked back, hiding behind the Professor who had yet to pull her blaster, far more amused than threatened.

"We surrender!" a mole-like alien shouted, waving a white hanky at them.

"No, it's ok, we're not…we're nice!" Rory tried to explain.

"She threatened me with a chair leg," the Doctor told the Professor.

"Yes, I saw," she nodded, still keeping an eye on the three before her though.

"Who are you?" the woman demanded.

"We're back in reception!" a boy beside her, barely 20 years old, with black curly hair and glasses, groaned.

"We surrender!" the alien shouted again.

"Never been threatened with a chair leg before!" the Doctor moved to Amy and Rory.

"Your graduation party," the Professor called.

The Doctor winced, "No, I tell a lie…" he remembered that night…vaguely.

He'd gotten so sloshed that he was lucky he hadn't damaged any of his organs. Everyone thought it was his way of celebrating the end of 400 years of school but it was really just his way of trying to make himself forget, to drown himself in his misery. He was leaving the Academy…but the Professor wasn't. She was still going to be there for another two years, that would be two years of him not being able to see her every day, just be in her presence, hang out in her room, just…see her. It hadn't truly hit him till that party where she'd made a comment, nudging him saying that it wasn't fair 'cos she still had another 2 years to go. From what the Master and Corsair had told him about his actions the next day…the Professor had been the object of his advances and slurred sayings and drunken ramblings all night. Apparently, he'd even tried to kidnap her and she'd had to use a chair leg from the sofa he'd never bothered to fix to keep him back. To her it had been all in jest, brandishing it without intention to use it, assuming his actions were the result of the drinks he'd been downing all night. But he knew, it was more than that. He probably would have really kidnapped her if he could have…had he been drunk enough to think of doing so and sober enough to actually manage the act. He just…he hadn't wanted to leave her, ever…

He felt someone take his hand and looked over to see the Professor smiling softly at him, having been privy to all that he'd been thinking of and recollecting as he'd gotten so lost in thoughts he'd failed to block them.

' _I never wanted to leave you either,_ ' she whispered to him, squeezing his hand, ' _And…I was considering LETTING you kidnap me…_ ' he started to smile, ' _Had you been more sober of course and your plan didn't involve carrying me over your shoulder like a caveman…_ ' he started to blush a bit, thinking of the last time he'd carried her over his shoulder and what _that_ had led to, ' _Though, now that I think of it…you were practically speaking caveman at that point…_ ' and the blush grew, ' _Hmmm…you as a caveman…possibly more sexy than me with a gun…_ ' and now he was red as a tomato and she was laughing silently in her mind.

"Did you just say, 'It's ok, we're nice?'" Amy looked at Rory, having not been aware of the conversation going on beside her.

"Ok, I need everyone to shut up now!" the woman shouted.

"Rita, be careful, yeah?" the boy beside her called.

"It's alright Howie," she muttered, stepping towards the group, "Their pupils are dilated…" the Doctor coughed a bit at that, fairly certain his eyes were not dilated for the same reason as the others, "They're as surprised as we are. Besides which, if it's a trick, it'll tell us something."

The Doctor looked at her, rather impressed, "Oh, you're good," he looked at the Professor, "Oh, she's good," and gave her a peck on the check, "Not as good as you though, but…" and turned to Amy, "Amy, with regret, you're fired."

"What?" Amy glared at him.

"I'm kidding," he looked at Rita and mimed holding a phone, whispering, "We'll talk."

The Professor shook her head and stepped forward, eyeing the mole man, "I take it from the pathological compulsion to surrender, you're from Tivoli."

"Yes," the Tivolian smiled and nodded, "The most invaded planet in the galaxy. Our anthem is called 'Glory to Insert-Name-Here.'"

"You with the face, Howie," the Doctor called, "You said you were surprised to be back in reception."

"The walls move, everything changes," he replied.

"You, clever one, what's he talking about?"

"The corridors twist and stretch, rooms vanish and pop up somewhere else," Rita explained, "It's like the hotel's alive."

"That's quite enough of that," the Professor muttered, switching off the music that had been playing.

"And it's huge, with, like, no way out," Howie added.

"Have you tried the front door?" Rory asked, nodding to the door behind them.

"No, in two days it never occurred to us to try the front door," Rita replied sarcastically, earning a laugh from Amy, "Thank God you're here!"

The Doctor and Professor exchanged a look as he scanned the door with the sonic before she opened it to see a white brick wall behind it, "They're not doors, they're walls," she remarked.

"Walls that look like doors," the Doctor nodded, "Door-walls, if you like, or 'dwalls,' 'woors' even…" the Professor put a hand to his mouth to stop his ramble, smiling at him as she kissed the back of her hand. He grinned, pulling her hand away to kiss her palm before nodding to himself, "You probably got it when you said, 'They're not doors.' I mean, the windows are..." he walked over and opened a curtain to see more of the wall, "Right, big day if you're a fan of walls."

"It's not just that," Rita added, "The rooms have...things in them."

"Things?" the Professor frowned.

"Hello!" the Doctor grinned.

"What kind of things?"

"Interesting things?" he hoped, "I love things, ask anyone…" he turned to the Professor, "Not as much as I love you though," he pecked her cheek and turned back to Rita, excited.

"Bad dreams," Rita answered.

The Professor nearly snorted, seeing the Doctor's expression morph into a pout, "Well, that killed the mood," she nudged him and turned to the trio, "How did you get here?"

"I don't know, I'd just started my shift," Rita shrugged, "I must have passed out, because suddenly I was here."

"I was blogging, next thing, this," Howie nodded.

"Oh, I was at work, I'm in town planning," the Tivolian grinned, "We're lining all the highways with trees, so invading forces can march in the shade."

"Ah," the Doctor nodded.

"Which is nice for them."

"Yeah..."

The Professor shook her head, "So what have we got?"

"People snatched from their lives and dropped into an endless, shifting maze that looks like a 1980s hotel with bad dreams in the bedrooms," the Doctor listed, picking up a Rubik's Cube from the counter, "Well, apart from anything else, that's just rude."

~8~

The Professor led the way up the stairs with the Doctor, the group following behind them, "We'll pop back to the TARDIS, we'll do a planet-wide diagnostic sweep, then we'll have a sing song," the Doctor was saying to them…only to trail off when he noticed the TARDIS was gone. He ran forward and started to feel for it just in case she'd decided to go invisible.

"Where's the TARDIS?" Amy frowned, "You parked it there, didn't you?"

The Professor nodded, glancing at the pictures on the wall, "Lady Silver Tear, the Novice, the Sontaran…it was here."

"What's a TARDIS?" Howie asked.

"Our way out," Rory sighed, rubbing his head with his hand, "And it's gone."

The Professor looked up, hearing the music turn back on, and glanced at the Doctor who heard it too, "Ok…" he nodded, "This is bad. At the moment, I don't know how bad, but certainly we're three buses, a long walk, and eight quid in a taxi from good."

"Are there any more of you?" the Professor looked at Rita.

"Joe," she answered, "But he's tied up right now."

"Doing what?" the Doctor frowned.

"No, I mean he's...tied up...right now."

~8~

The Doctor and Professor cautiously stepped into the dining hall to see it was filled with tables of ventriloquist dummies all laughing, their heads bobbing up and down as a man, Joe, sat in the middle of them. The rest stepped into the room and the dummies stopped and turned to stare at them.

"Hello. I'm the Doctor and this is the Professor," the Doctor introduced.

"You're going to die here," Joe told them.

"Well, they certainly didn't mention that in the brochure," he remarked, taking the Professor's hand, not at all happy with the notion that she might be in danger, despite the fact she was more than capable of taking care of, not only herself, but probably everyone in the room.

"Is Joe there?" she asked, leading the Doctor towards the table, "Can we have a quick word?"

"Oh, it's still me, Professor," Joe replied, "But I've seen the light. I lived a blasphemous life, but he has forgiven my inconstancy, and soon...he shall feast."

"Well, you've been here two days, what's 'he' waiting for?" the Doctor asked as they stood before the table.

"We weren't ready. We were still raw."

"But now you're what? Cooked?"

"If you like. Soon you will be, too," the Professor frowned, squinting at the horseshoe tie clip and dice cufflinks on Joe's person, sending the images to the Doctor who nodded slightly, "Be patient. First...find your rooms."

"Our rooms?" she frowned.

"There's a room here for everyone. Even you."

"You said you'd seen the light now," the Doctor said, getting Joe off the topic of death.

"Nothing else matters anymore. Only him. It's like these things," he nodded at the dummies, "I used to hate them! They make me laugh now," he laughed, "Gottle o'geer! Gottle o'geer!" he laughed more and soon the dummies started to laugh.

The Professor tensed, their laughter irritating her, and pulled out her blaster, firing one at a table beside her, knocking its head off. The dummies fell silent and turned to look at her, "Next one of you that laughs gets the same," she told them, unsure if they were able to understand her or if they were just for show. They remained silent though.

"You should go," Joe called, drawing her attention back, "He'll be here soon."

The Doctor glanced at the Professor a moment before walking over to a hand dolly and sliding it under Joe's chair, "I think you should come with us."

~8~

The music played down the halls as the group stood back in reception, the Doctor, Amy, Rory, and Rita on the guest side while Howie, the Tivolian, and the Professor stood on the employee side with Joe, "Why you four?" the Professor shook her head as she eyed them, "That's what I don't understand. And believe me, there's not much I don't," she reached over and switched off the music again.

"What does it matter?" the Tivolian asked, "Sooner or later, someone will come along and rescue us. Or enslave us."

"First, we find the TARDIS," the Professor turned to the Doctor, drawing up a plan.

"Quick thing before we go," he added, turning to the humans and the other alien, "If you feel drawn to a particular room, do not go in, and make sure someone else can see you at all times."

"Joe said 'he' will feast," Rita said quietly, "Is there something here with us?"

Joe just laughed and the Doctor looked at him, "Something to add, Joe?"

"'Here comes a candle to light you to bed,'" he recited, "'Here comes a chopper to chop off your head. Chop, chop, chop, chop…'"

"'The last man is dead,'" the Professor finished, "Any other nursery rhymes you'd like to try for?" she was hardly amused and her voice emphasized that.

Howie eyed Joe warily, "Can we do something about him?" he asked the Professor.

She just smiled and reached over, picking up a roll of duct tape and pulling a strip.

~8~

The Doctor walked down the hallway, taking the lead, while the Professor brought up the rear, both keeping an eye out for the humans and alien between them. The Tivolian was pushing Joe who had his mouth duct taped shut. The Doctor stopped, looking around to see they'd somehow changed directions.

"Personally, I think you've got the right idea," the Tivolian said to Joe, "Times like this, I think of my old school motto, 'Resistance Is Exhausting.'"

"I've worked out where we are," Howie said to Rory as the two walked in front of the Professor.

"Hmm?" Rory looked over.

"Norway."

"Norway?" the Professor couldn't help but ask.

Howie nodded and turned to her, walking backwards, "You see, the U.S. government has entire cities hidden in the Norwegian mountains. Earth is on a collision course with this other planet, and this is where they're going to send all the rich people when it kicks off."

"Amazing," Rory shook his head.

"It's all there on the internet."

"No, it's amazing you've come up with a theory even more insane than what's actually happening."

Suddenly the door to Room 158 opened and a PE teacher stepped out, looking at the Doctor, "Hello," he greeted the man with a smile.

"Have you forgotten your PE kit again?" the teacher asked as everyone looked over, "Right, that's it, you're doing it in your pants!" and with that, he turned and headed back into the room, shutting the door behind him.

"Don't!" they turned around to see the Professor had grabbed Howie's arm as he reached for a door, seeming almost entranced with it.

Howie jumped, startled out of whatever had ensnared him, "I…I just wanted to…I don't know…"

The Doctor walked over and looked at the door a moment. He glanced at the Professor who gave a small nod, tugging Howie back further, before he cautiously reached out and opened the door.

Inside were a gaggle of women seemingly about Howie's age, all starting to laugh when they caught sight of him, "Oh, look, girls, it's H-H-H-Howie!" one gasped.

"What's 'loser' in K-K-K-Klingon?" another joked.

Howie backed away quickly, "Shut the d-d...th-the door!" the Doctor quickly did so, "This is just some m-m-messed up CIA stuff, I-I-I'm telling you."

The Doctor turned and put his arm around Howie's shoulder, patting him on the chest, "You're right, keep telling yourself that. It's a CIA thing, nothing more," he turned and led Howie on, Rory and the Professor following after.

The Professor paused, hearing a slight growling. She saw Howie glance over his shoulder and look back as well.

~8~

They had walked up a staircase and down another hall, the Professor absently trailing the wallpaper with her fingertips as they walked, the Doctor tapping the light sconces every so often. He stopped under a low beam and felt the plaster above him which had been scraped off. Amy paused, seeing a few pieces of paper on the ground and picked it up while Rory stopped to tie his shoe.

He looked up to see a fire exit between two doors, "Er...guys?"

"Look…" Amy headed over to the Doctor, about to show him the papers, when they heard a growl behind them. Joe started to strain against his bonds, "Ok, whatever that is, it's not real, yeah?"

"No, no, I'm sure it isn't, but just in case, let's run away and hide anyway," the Doctor remarked.

"In here!" the Professor opened a door beside them and they ran in, Amy, Howie, and the Tivolian along with them while Rita pulled Joe into another.

"No, this way!" Rory called, "I've found a..." he looked back only to see a door where the fire escape had been.

"Rory, come on!" the Professor called, standing in the doorway with the Doctor.

"There was a... "

"Come on!" the Doctor shouted and Rory ran down the hall to them. They shut the door and came to a stop suddenly when they saw the room had two Weeping Angels inside it, Amy staring at them to keep them a bay, "Aiiee!"

"Don't...blink," Amy breathed.

"What?" Howie asked.

The lights started to flicker and the Tivolian ran to the cupboard, cowering in them as the Angels changed positions, their arms stretched out.

"Amy, get back," the Doctor pulled her back.

"Wait," the Professor called, eyeing the statues, "Why haven't they got us yet?" she wondered, stepping forward. She reached out to feel one and her eyes widened, turning her back on them to face the group, "Amy, they're not real."

"What?" she still didn't take her eyes off them.

"They should have got us by now," the Doctor realized and turned to Amy, "Amy, look at me, focus on me. It's your bad dream, that's all."

"I don't even think they're for us," Rory remarked, trying to make his wife feel better, he knew what she was truly afraid of. As though to prove his words, the Tivolian screamed and slammed the door shut, terrified.

The Doctor was about to check on him when they heard a growling coming from the hall. The Professor quickly made her way to the doorway, "Professor, what are you doing?" Amy asked.

"I just have to see what it is," she remarked, leaning to the peephole, "We might be able to identify it if I can just see it…" she glanced back at the Doctor, "Look on," he nodded and closed his eyes, focusing on her, looking through her eyes with her as she peered through it to see a large minotaur-like beast step in front of the door.

"Oh, look at you..." the Doctor muttered, impressed, "You are beautiful!"

The beast suddenly turned to the door and the Professor stepped back, hoping it wouldn't hear them. A moment later it turned back to the hall and stepped past the door, the Professor quickly returning to the hole, "Oh, dear," she mumbled, just seeing a door a bit down the hall open, back the way the beast had come from, "I think it's going after Joe."

"Come to me!" they heard Joe shout, "Come to me," the Professor moved to open the door as the beast turned and ran for Joe but the Doctor pulled her back, she looked at him, stunned he would stop her.

' _I can't lose you,_ ' he whispered to her in his mind.

They had no idea how strong the beast could be, what it could do to her, how it operated. Just a glance, they both knew it was very strong and deadly…he didn't want her in the path of it as it charged. After it passed the door though…

"Praise him!" they heard Joe shout as the beast ran at him, passing the door.

The Doctor watched as the shadow under the doorway moved and nodded, opening the door, stepping out to see Joe being dragged down the hall by the beast, "Leave him alone!" he shouted and they ran off after it. The two Time Lords tried to keep up but got a firsthand taste of how the corridors shifted when they ended up back at the stairs.

"Joe!" the Professor shouted as they ran up them, "Joe!"

They ran down another hall and stopped at a four way intersection, each of them checking two ways for any sign of Joe, "Joe!" the Doctor called.

The Professor caught sight of something on the floor of one hall and ran over, picking up the dice cufflink on the ground. They turned around, feeling the hall shift, to see Joe kneeling, propped up against the wall behind them.

"Joe?" the Professor walked over, "Joe!"

"Joe!" the Doctor reached out, trying to shake him, "Joe, what happened?"

The Professor put a hand on the man's neck and frowned, shaking her head at the Doctor, he was gone.

~8~

The Professor and Doctor stood before Joe's body as it was stretched out on the small dais of the dining room, the dummies set up against the wall behind him. The Doctor scanned the man's body while the Professor knelt beside it, scanning it herself as well. Howie and Rory were rolling tables and chairs behind them, trying to add defenses to the room.

"If we can wedge a chair under the door handles, that should stop anything from getting in," Howie remarked.

"Help yourself to tea," they heard Rita offering people, "Guys, tea over here."

"If it's any consolation, I've met the Weeping Angels, so I know how..." the Professor sat on the dais and looked over, finished with her scan, at Amy as she sat on the bar, trying to console the Tivolian, "In fact, I thought that room was for me."

"Joe was right," the Tivolian moaned, "Whatever it is in here, it actually wants to kill us. Not oppress us or enslave us, kill us!"

"Ok, listen..." Amy walked over to him, "The Doctor and Professor have been part of my life for so long now, and they've never let me down. Even when I thought he had…when I was a kid and he left me, he came back, he...saved me. And I almost lost her trust by doing something really stupid but…she still protected me. And now he's going to save you and she's gonna protect you. But don't tell them I said that, because the smugness would be terrifying."

The Professor smiled as Amy got up, unaware she'd been heard, "Of course," the Tivolian called, "If the Weeping Angels were meant for me, then your room is still out there...somewhere."

The Professor's grin faded as she realized what the Tivolian was doing, trying to do, to Amy. But then she saw Rory step over to her and smiled, she'd be fine. She turned back and spotted Rita walking over to them with the tray of tea.

"Every time the Doctor gets pally with someone," she heard Rory say to Amy, "I have this overwhelming urge to notify their next of kin," Amy laughed and she saw Rory flinch out of the corner of her eye. Amy looked at him questioningly, "Sorry. The last time I said something like that, you hit me with your shoe. And you literally had to sit down and unlace it first…I think you're spending too much time with the Professor," he added quietly. Amy just laughed and shook her head, the Professor, it seemed, had a history of using her shoe as a projectile to distract her enemies.

The Doctor moved and her attention was brought back to him as he covered Joe's body with a sheet, sitting down beside her on the edge of the dais, "What exactly happened to him?" Rita asked.

"He died," the Doctor replied, taking a cup from Rita.

"You  _are_  a medical doctor, aren't you? You haven't just got a degree in cheese making or something."

"Amongst others," the Professor quipped.

"Yes well…" he trailed a moment, the time he'd learned cheese making not exactly bringing up the best memories. Coming back from learning a new craft to find out that your best friend, and the woman you loved, was on her death bed was not a great moment.

The Professor reached out and squeezed his hand, knowing where his thoughts had gone and decided to get them off that topic and back to the matter at hand, "The thing I don't understand is that there is no cause for this. All his vital organs simply stopped."

He nodded, smiling at her for that, "As if the simple spark of life, his loves and hates, his faiths and fears were just..." he sniffed the cup in his hand, "Taken, and this is a cup of tea."

"Of course, I'm British, it's how we cope with trauma," Rita laughed, "That and tutting."

"But how did you make it?"

"All hotels should have a well stocked kitchen, even alien fake ones. I heard you talking when you arrived. Look, it's no more ridiculous than Howie's CIA theory or mi...or mine."

"Which is?" the Professor looked up at her.

"This is Jahannam."

"You're a Muslim," she realized.

"Don't be frightened."

"And you think this is Hell?" the Professor continued as the Doctor sipped his tea, she knew for a fact this was nothing compared to some of the hells she'd endured over her life. She felt the Doctor squeeze her hand and looked over at him a moment, smiling at him reassuringly.

"The whole '80s hotel thing took me by surprise, though," Rita admitted.

The Doctor stood up, tugging the Professor up with him, as he looked at the others in the room, "And all these fears and phobias wandering about, most are completely unconnected to us, so why are they still here?"

"Maybe the cleaners have gone on strike."

"Ha!" he laughed, "I like you, you're a right clever clogs."

"But this isn't Hell, Rita," the Professor assured her.

"You don't understand, I say that without fear," Rita shook her head, "Jahannam will play its tricks, and there'll be times when I want to run and scream, but I've tried to live a good life, and that knowledge keeps me sane, despite the monsters and the bonkers rooms. Gibbis..." she nodded at the Tivolian while the Doctor proceeded to gargle his tea, "…is…is an alien, isn't he?"

"From Tivoli," the Professor nodded.

"Sorry," the Doctor added, knowing how some humans could freak out at the thought of aliens.

"Ok..." Rita nodded, "I'm going to file that under 'freak out about later.'"

"Doctor," Amy called, walking over with a handful of white notes, "Look at this. I found it in a corridor, I completely forgot I had it," she handed it over to him and he tapped her on the head with them before leaning against a table to read them for everyone.

"Er..." he cleared his throat, "'My name is Lucy Hayward and I'm the last one left. It took Luke first. It got him on his first day, almost as soon as we arrived. It's funny. You don't know what's going to be in your room until you see it, then you realize it could never have been anything else. I just saw mine. It was a gorilla from a book I'd read as a kid. My God, that thing used to terrify me. The gaps between my worships are getting shorter, like contractions. This is what happened to the others...and how lucky they were. It's all so clear now. I'm so happy. Praise him.'"

"Praise him," Howie said at the same time.

"What did you just say?" the Professor looked over at him.

Howie looked up, startled, "Nothing," his face scrunched as he fought with something, "Praise him!" he clapped his hand over his mouth.

"This is what happened to Joe!" Gibbis's eyes widened in fear.

"God, it's going to come for me now!"

"You'll lead it right here."

"We won't leave you," the Doctor walked over to Howie, "I promise, you have my word."

"I don't want to get eaten!" Howie cried.

"Howie, calm down!" Amy shouted.

"He's going to lead it right here!" Gibbis shouted.

A loud, high-pitched whistle broke through the din and they looked over at the Professor, stopping their arguing, "Thanks."

"Don't you see?" Gibbis continued a moment later, "He'll lead it right here!"

"What do you suggest?" Rita asked him.

"Look, whatever it is out there, it's obviously chosen Howard as its next course. Now...tragic though that is, this is no time for sentiment. I'm saying, if it were to...find him, it may be satisfied and let the rest of us go. All I want to do is go home and be conquered and oppressed, is that too much to ask?" he sat back down.

"It's ok, I'll stay with Howie. You take the others and go."

"No," the Doctor shook his head, "We stay together."

The Professor walked over to Gibbis and leaned forward, whispering to him, "Your civilization is one of the oldest in the galaxy. Now I see why. Your cowardice isn't quaint, it's sly, aggressive. It's how that gene of gutlessness has survived while so many others have perished. Well, not today. No one else dies today. Understood?"

Gibbis could only nod slightly, very intimidated by the girl before him.

She smiled, "Brilliant," and stood up. She turned to see them looking at her, the Doctor smirking just a bit, and smiled back at him.

He nodded his head and walked over to Howie, putting an arm around his shoulder to lead him back to the table, "Howie, any second, it's going to possess you again. When it does, I'm going to ask you some questions. Please try to answer them."

They all sat down across from him, though the Professor remained standing behind the Doctor.

"I hope my mum's alright, she's going to be w-worried," Howie began…but then he blinked and his eyes grew glassy, the possession had set in.

"Howie...Howie," the Doctor called, getting the boy's attention, "Howie, you're next, we're all dead jealous, so tell us...how do we get a piece of the action? Why isn't he possessing all of us?"

"You guys have got all these distractions," he tapped his head, "All these obstacles. It'd be so much easier if you just let it go, you know, clear the path."

"You  _want_  it to find you?" Amy shook her head, "Even though you know what it's going to do?"

"Are you kidding? He's going to kill us all! How cool is that?"

They all eyed Howie a moment longer before getting up and stepping back from the table, the Professor joining them, though keeping an eye on Howie as well, "It's as I thought, it feeds on fear," the Doctor explained, "Everything, the rooms, Lucy's note, even the pictures in reception, has been put here to frighten us. So we have to resist it. Do whatever you have to, cross your fingers, say a prayer, think of a basket of kittens, but do not give in to the fear."

"Ok, but what are we actually going to do?" Amy asked.

The Professor glanced at her with a wide smile, "We're going to catch ourselves a monster."

~8~

"Bring me death!" the Professor looked over at the speaker she had hidden by a chair, configured to project Howie's voice into the beauty parlor she and the Doctor were working on. The boy in question was safe in reception but hopefully the beast would follow his voice right to them, "Bring me glory! My master, my lord, I'm here!" she looked over at the Doctor who set up another mirror against the wall, giving them view of the room from one key location in the back, "Come to me. I'm waiting here...for you. He has promised me a glorious death…" she glanced at the doors where Rory and Amy and Rita were waiting to trap the beast inside, "Give it to me now, I want him to know my devotion. Praise...him…" the Doctor looked up, hearing a scrape against the low beams just outside the door and nodded at the Professor, the two of them retreating back to their hiding spot behind a waterfall piece, "Praise...him…" the door opened and the beast entered.

Suddenly the doors slammed shut and they could hear Amy shout, "Rory, he's in!"

The Doctor shut off the lights quickly and the beast began to knock into things in the dark, "Let his name...be the last thing I hear," Howie continued, "Let his breath on my skin be the last thing I feel," the alien turned a chair around, finding the speaker and growled, turning to see itself in the mirrors, "I was lost in shadows, but he found me. His love was a beacon that led me from darkness to light, and now I am blinded by his majesty! Humbled by his glory! Praise..."

The Professor pulled a switch on the wall, "That's quite enough of that."

"…him," Howie finished before the speaker went dead.

The Doctor turned to the beast, watching it through the mirrors, "Nothing personal," he called, "I just think we should take things slowly. Get to know each other."

"You take people's most primal fears and put it in a room," the Professor continued, wanting to get to the point, "Their own personal hell, just for them. Why?"

It growled and the Doctor frowned, "Did you say 'they' take?" he looked at the Professor who nodded, "Ah," he nodded but frowned when it continued, "What is that word?"

"The guard?" the Professor frowned, the growls were hard to interpret, as though it hadn't been able to speak in so long that it had forgotten how or nearly so, "No, the warden?" she turned to the Doctor, "This is a prison."

"So, what are we?" the Doctor asked it, "Cell mates? Lunch? We are not...ripe?" he stepped out and moved right behind the water feature with the Professor, "So, what? You make us ready?"

"You...what?" the Professor shook her head, "'Replace?' Replace what? Fear?"

"You have lived so long, even your name is lost? You want this to stop. Because you are just..."

"Instinct," the Professor breathed, feeling empathy from her war incarnation, "Then tell us. Tell us how to fight you."

"My master, my lord!" they turned sharply, hearing Howie calling from the hallway, he'd gotten free, "I'm here! Bring me death!"

"No, no, no, no!" the Doctor shouted but the beast swung at the water feature, shattering the glass.

"Rory, watch out!" the Professor shouted, pulling the Doctor back, as the alien ran for Rory's door.

"Stay back!" the Doctor called as the door behind them opened and Amy and Rita ran in. The beast shattered the window of the door and charged out, "Pond, bring the fish!"

"What, the fish?" Amy called as the two darted out of the room, "Oh, the fish!"

The Professor quickly knelt by Rory, checking him as he groaned awake from where he'd been knocked out, "Where did he go?" she asked him.

"Somebody hit me," he moaned, "Was it Amy?"

The Doctor simply chucked and ran off, the Professor just behind him. They ran down the stairwell and into another hall, stopping when the Doctor caught sight of something on the floor, Howie's glasses. The Professor gasped, seeing Howie behind them, kneeling as he leaned against a wall.

She knelt down before him, reaching out to scan him, though already knowing the results would be the same as for Joe. She looked at the Doctor and shook her head. He crouched beside her and placed the boy's glasses in his hand, patting his face. He looked up to see Amy, Rory, and Rita at the end of the hall and shook his head at them.

The Professor stood, looking back at Gibbis as he appeared at the other end, "He got free," the alien lied, "He overpowered me," the Professor just shook her head at him and strode down the hall with the Doctor, the others following along with a timid Gibbis, "It might leave us alone now. Maybe now we'll be safe…wait!"

~8~

The Doctor and Professor stood at the wall of pictures, looking at Howie's, when Rory joined them, "Have you found your room yet?" the Professor asked him.

"No, no. Is that good or bad?"

"Maybe you're not scared of anything," the Doctor suggested.

"Well, after all the time I spent with you in the TARDIS, what was left to be scared of?"

The Professor frowned, "You said that in the past tense."

"No, I didn't," the Doctor just leaned back against the wall as Rory looked at the photo as well, "You know, Howie had been in speech therapy. He'd just got over this massive stammer. What an achievement. I mean, can you imagine? I'd forgotten, not all victories are about saving the Universe."

~8~

The Doctor and Professor were quietly discussing their options and plan in the stairwell as they headed down, hoping to get something off of Howie and Joe that could help them, when they spotted Rita on her way up, "Rita!" the Doctor called, "Brilliant! How are you? Not panicking, are you? Good, good. Because I am literally an otter's toenail away from getting us out of here."

"Why?" she asked with a smile.

"Excellent question," he patted her on the back as he passed, though the Professor remained where she was, "Excellent question," he paused and turned back, "Why what?"

"Why is it up to you to save us? That's quite a God complex you have there."

"Fear the day he becomes a god Rita," the Professor whispered jokingly, conspiratorially.

"Oi!" the Doctor called, before glancing down at Amy as she placed the fish by the window downstairs, and sighed, "I brought them here…"

"WE brought them here," the Professor corrected.

"They'd say it was their choice," he continued, nodding, "But offer a child a suitcase full of sweets and they'll take it."

"Offer someone all of time and space and they'll take that, too."

"Which is why you shouldn't."

"Which is why grownups were invented."

"Like you," the Doctor looked at the Professor.

She blinked and looked at him, "Are you calling me old again?"

His eyes widened and he quickly gave her a peck to appease her, before turning to Rita who was eyeing them oddly, "Yes," he sighed, "We do do that a lot."

She nodded a moment before shaking herself out of her thoughts, "All of time and space, eh?"

The Doctor grinned, "Oh, yeah. And when we get out of this, we'll show you, too."

"I don't know what you're talking about. But I have a feeling you just did it again."

The Professor nudged him a moment and he followed her gaze to the security camera in the corner of the wall, "Right down to the smallest detail. Got you, Mr. Minotaur," he turned and ran down the stairs, pulling the Professor along with him, leaving Rita to look at the camera.

They ran down a hallway, stopping short when the Professor pulled him. He turned to her, confused, but she just put a finger to her lips. He frowned, listening, only to hear it, the voices, whispering, "Praise him," in their minds, "Praise him. Praise him."

They turned to the side and spotted a single door, calling to the both of them, 11. They glanced back at each other, "Let's do it," she nodded and they walked over to the door.

The Doctor reached out and put a hand on the knob a moment before opening the door a crack, the two of them peeking in at the room beyond, "Of course," he muttered, nodding to himself, "Who else?"

He shut his door and the Professor draped a 'Do Not Disturb' sign over the knob, "Well," she breathed, "It's not like it was something we didn't already know though eh?"

She turned to leave when he grabbed her arm and turned her to face him once more, "How long have you been afraid of yourself?" he asked her quickly, stroking her cheek comfortingly.

"Since before I regenerated into the war," she told him, thinking of how she'd seen her sixth incarnation standing in there, "I was afraid of what I would become, seems that fear was founded."

He leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead, "After the war," he admitted to her, thinking of how he'd seen himself standing in there as well, the version of himself that had used 'The Moment,' "I was afraid of what I had become, to do that to our people."

She lifted his hand, still in hers, and kissed his knuckles, "Come on," she whispered, "We need to find that security room."

He nodded and they were back on their quest. They searched along the halls till they finally found the room labeled 'Security.' They headed in, spotting a panel of monitors against the wall, "Oh, you beauty!" the Doctor grinned, walking over to them, "Come on, big fella. Where are you?"

"Rita?" the Professor breathed.

He looked up to see Rita wandering the hall on the monitor, "Where are you going?" he wondered as the Professor picked up a phone, dialing. Rita stopped and looked to her left, where a phone was ringing, "Come on, come on, come on!" he muttered as Rita looked back at the camera a moment before opening the door and entering the room, "Come on, come on…"

"Rita!" the Professor got her, "Where are you going?" she frowned, "Can you take the phone into the corridor? Will it reach?" Rita appeared on the monitor again, walking back into the hall, the Professor sighed, "You started to praise it, didn't you?"

Rita nodded.

The Doctor took the phone, "Rita, come back. Please. We'll find a way to stop it, I swear to you."

"No," Rita shook her head, kneeling down on the floor, "I need to get as far away from you all as possible."

"No, you don't. The creature only wants whoever's praising it."

"You'll put yourself in its way?"

The Professor shook her head, "I'm going to get her," she told the Doctor, running out the door as he nodded, knowing that, despite the halls shifting, she was still a rather good tracker and had a better chance of finding Rita than he did.

He turned back to the monitor, "Block out the fear and stay focused on your belief."

"The hotel will keep us apart," Rita continued, "I could be 50 miles away by now. I want you to do me one last favor, Doctor. I can feel the rapture approaching, like a wave…" the Doctor glanced down at the monitors, seeing the beast approaching in one and the Professor running down the halls in another, "I don't want you to witness this. I want you to remember me the way I was."

"What's going on?" he heard Amy ask. He turned to see her and Rory entering the room, seeing Rita on the monitor, "Rita's disappeared. What's she doing there?"

"Rita. Rita, please," he called into the phone, "Just wait a moment, the Professor's on her way…she can protect you…"

"No," she shook her head, "Please, let me be robbed of my faith in private."

"Look," Rory pointed at a monitor as the beast neared Rita's hall.

"Rita," the Doctor grew frantic, "Rita. Go into the room, lock the door," he knew, despite how much he hated to admit it, the Professor could take the beast down fairly easily, but with Rita there, struggling, putting herself in the line of fire, distracting her, one or both of them would get very hurt…

"I'm not frightened," she reassured him, "I'm blessed, Doctor. I'm at peace. I'm going to hang up."

"No, no, no, Rita."

"Goodbye, Doctor."

"Rita!"

"Thank you for trying."

"Rita, please!" but Rita hung up, "Please! Please," he looked at the monitors, watching as Rita stood up in the middle of the hall, facing the end of it. The Doctor frantically checked the monitors, seeing the Professor running, but the halls were shifting, throwing her off despite her best efforts. Rita put her head back, spreading her arms as the beast ran to her. They watched as it charged, knocking her out of frame.

The Doctor quickly soniced the monitor, shutting it down, when the Professor appeared in another, her blaster in hand. The beast charged at her but she faced it down, firing at it. It fell back against the wall, clutching its shoulder from where she'd shot it, probably used up most of the power in her blaster to injure it that much. It scrambled it its feet and ran off. She rushed to Rita's side and checked the woman over before looking at the monitor, shaking her head sadly.

The Doctor turned and strode out of the room.

~8~

Amy and Rory sat at the bar, the Doctor basically tearing apart the room next to them, screaming and knocking things off the tables, breaking things, till the Professor left the dais where she'd just laid Rita to go stop him. Amy looked over, watching as she simply entered the room and the Doctor was in her arms, holding her tightly, taking comfort in her presence. She felt Rory take her hand and smiled at him, feeling safe as she laid her head on her husband's shoulder.

She could understand the comfort only a spouse could give you.

~8~

Amy and Rory sat at the last booth in the bar, Gibbis in the middle, the Doctor and Professor at the other end, just thinking, trying to work out what was happening and how to get everyone still left out alive.

"Ok," the Doctor rubbed his head, "It preys on people's fear and possesses them," he fiddled a bit with the completed Rubik's Cube before him, having finally managed to complete it, "But Rita wasn't afraid, she was brave and calm. Maybe it's something to do with the people, some connection between the four of you that'll tell us how to fight it."

"Yes," Gibbis rolled his eyes, "You keep saying that, but you never do. And while we wait, people keep dying. And we'll be next!"

"Look, they'll work it out," Amy told him, "They always do. Just let him riff and move anything expensive out of his way."

"Oh, no," the Professor looked up, stunned, turning to the Doctor to see he too had the same wide eyed horror in his eyes.

"Oh, no, no," he agreed.

"Doctor, what is wrong?" Amy asked them.

"It's not fear," the Professor shook her head, "It's faith."

The Doctor nodded, getting up, and walking to stand before them, "Not just religious faith, faith in something."

"Howie believed in conspiracies, external forces controlling the world…"

"Joe had dice cufflinks and a chain with a horseshoe. He was a gambler. Gamblers believe in luck, an intangible force that helps them win or lose."

The Professor got up and joined him, waving in Gibbis's direction, "Gibbis rejected personal autonomy and is waiting for the next batch of invaders to tell him what to do."

"They all believe there's something guiding them, about to save them. That's what it replaces."

"Every time someone was confronted with their most primal fear, they fell back on their most fundamental faith."

The Doctor fell back on the barstool and rubbed his eyes, "And all this time, I've been telling you to dig deep. Find the thing that keeps you brave. I made you expose your faith. Show them what they needed," the Professor walked over to him and put a hand on his back in comfort, it wasn't his fault. She had thought the same at first as well.

"But why us?" Rory asked, already used to the way they spoke, "Why are we here?"

"It doesn't want you," the Professor told him, "That's why it kept showing you a way out. You're not religious or superstitious, so there's no faith for you to fall back on."

"It wants her," the Doctor whispered, pointing at Amy.

"Me?" Amy's eye widened and she got up, moving to sit by him, "Why?"

"Your faith in us. That's what brought us here."

"But why do they lose their faith before they die and start worshipping...'it?'" Rory frowned.

"It needs to convert the faith into a form 'it' can consume," the Professor explained, walking over to him, "Faith is an energy, the specific emotional energy the creature needs to live."

The Doctor nodded, "Which is why at the end of her note, Lucy said..."

"Praise him," Amy finished.

"Exactly."

A moment later Rory jumped to his feet as the Professor turned to Amy and the Doctor's eyes widened, "No," Rory shook his head, "Oh, please, no."

And then they heard the beast roar.

~8~

The five of them ran through the halls, the beast chasing after them. Amy suddenly stopped and faced it, the Doctor and Professor running back over to her, "Amy?" the Professor called.

"What are you doing?" Gibbis demanded.

"He is beautiful," Amy breathed, spotting the alien at the end of the hall.

"Leave her! Just leave her!"

They ignored him, of course, and draped one of Amy's arms over a shoulder, dragging her down another hall with Rory and Gibbis following.

They ran into Room 7 only to stop short, seeing young Amelia sitting on her suitcase, looking out at the stars, waiting and watching for the magic blue box to appear again. Rory turned and tried to hold the door closed against the alien as Gibbis fell between the beds, cowering.

Amy fell to her knees, "Doctor, it's happening. It's changing me, Professor it's changing my thoughts."

The Doctor looked over at the Professor who could only nod sadly,  _'We have to._ '

His jaw tensed and he nodded as well, kneeling beside her with the Professor, both knowing what they had to do.

She put her hand on Amy's shoulder, "We can't save you from this, there's  _nothing_  we can do to stop this."

"What?" Amy looked at her, alarmed.

"We stole your childhood," the Doctor added, "And now we've led you, by the hand, to your death. But the worst thing is, we knew. We  _knew_  this would happen."

"This is what  _always_  happens," the Professor whispered.

The beast pushed the door open, forcing Rory into a corner. The Doctor turned to Amy quickly, "Forget your faith in us," he told her urgently.

"We took you with us because we were vain," the Professor told her, "Because we wanted to be adored."

"Look at you," the Doctor stroked her hair, "Glorious Pond. The girl who waited for us."

"We're  _not_  heroes," the Professor told the little girl in her, "He's really just a mad man in a box and I'm just the soldier he married."

"And it's time we saw each other as we really are."

"Amy Williams," the Professor smiled at her as the beast staggered back in the doorway, Amy's faith in them broken.

The Doctor nodded, "It's time to stop waiting," he stood up and held out a hand to the Professor, helping her up as well before they moved into the hall. They stood, watching the beast collapse onto the floor, the lights beginning to flicker. They walked over and knelt beside it, the Professor resting a hand on its hoof as the Doctor stroked its head comfortingly, "We severed the food supply," he told it, "Sacrificing their faith in us. We gave you the space to die. Shh, shh."

They stood as the hallway disappeared and turned into a black room with a lit grid-like floor. There was an instrument panel running off to the side which the Professor walked over to, examining it as Amy, Rory, and Gibbis looked around.

"What is it, a minotaur?" Amy asked, sounding unsure of what to say, "Or an alien? Or an alien minotaur? That's not a question I thought I'd be asking this morning."

"It's both, actually," the Professor called, nodding her and the Doctor over, "Distant cousin of the Nimon. They descend on planets and set themselves up as Gods to be worshipped."

"Which is fine," the Doctor nodded, "Until the inhabitants get all secular and advanced enough to build bonkers prisons."

"Correction," Rory called, looking through a porthole on the floor with Gibbis, "Prisons in space."

"Where are the guards?" Amy frowned.

"No need for any," the Professor pointed at a series of symbols Amy couldn't read, "It's all automated. It drifts through space, snatching people with belief systems and converts their faith into food for the creature."

Amy frowned, debating whether to speak, before going with it, "It didn't want just me. So, you two must believe in some god or someone, or they'd have shown you the door, too. So, what do Time Lords pray to?"

The Doctor and Professor just glanced at each other and smiled secretly, was there really anything else they could believe in but each other?

"According to the in flight recorder," the Professor got back to task, "The program developed glitches."

The Doctor squinted, reading the symbols, "It got stuck on the same setting, the fears from the people before us weren't tidied away."

Amy turned around as the beast growled, "What's it saying?"

"An ancient creature," the Professor translated, "Drenched in the blood of the innocent, drifting in space through an endless, shifting maze. For such a creature, death would be a gift."

The Doctor knelt down and put a hand on the beast's hoof, "Then accept it. And sleep well."

"He wasn't talking about himself," the Professor told him as the beast let out a final groan and closed its eyes.

The Doctor swallowed hard and stood up, the Professor already at his side as he slipped an arm around her waist, just seeking comfort in her warmth, her presence and understanding. They looked at each other, silently agreeing on something as they turned and headed back to the TARDIS.

"Could I have a lift?" Gibbis asked, "Just to the nearest galaxy would do."

The Doctor simply unlocked the TARDIS and stepped in.

~8~

The Professor smiled lightly as they stepped out of the TARDIS before a row of colorful townhouses across from a fenced in park. There was one in soft blue with a dark blue door, looking quite a bit like the TARDIS, a red Jaguar parked outside it.

"Don't tell me," Amy looked around, trying to joke but something in her voice was off, "This isn't Earth, that isn't a real house, and inside lives a goblin who feeds on indecision."

"Nope," the Doctor smiled, "Real Earth, real house," he tossed Amy a set of keys, "Real door keys!"

"You're not serious?"

"The car, too?" Rory's mouth dropped open, walking towards it, "But that's my favorite car," he turned to them, stunned, "How did you know that was my favorite car?"

The Professor grinned, "You showed me a picture of it once and said, 'That's my favorite car,'" she tossed him a set of keys to the car and he stared at them as well.

"Rory," Amy walked over to him, "Can you give us two minutes? Two minutes?"

Rory turned and put an arm around the Doctor and Professor, pulling them aside, "She'll say we can't accept it because it's too extravagant and we'll always feel a crippling sense of obligation," he looked at the car, "It's a risk I'm willing to take!"

The Professor laughed and patted him on the shoulder, sending him off to the house, watching in amusement as he kept his eye on the car until he entered the house.

Amy shook her head at her husband and turned to sit on the bonnet of the car, patting each side of her, "Hey," they walked over and leaned against it, "So...you're leaving, aren't you?"

"You haven't seen the last of us," the Professor assured her.

"Bad Penny is my middle name!" the Doctor grinned, "Seriously, the looks I get when I fill in a form..."

"Why now?" Amy frowned.

The Professor sighed, "Because you're still breathing Amy."

They had lost far too many people they cared about already and just before had been far too close for comfort.

"Well, I think this is about the washing up, personally," Amy muttered.

They all laughed a bit sadly before sobering. The Doctor pushed off the car, holding out a hand to the Professor, and walked to the TARDIS, "I mean, you're right, there's still heaps of stuff out there to look at," he agreed, "Do you know, there's a planet whose name literally translates as 'Volatile Circus?'" he stood in the doorway on one side, the Professor beside him.

She smiled softly at Amy, nodding at the house, "Or maybe there's a bigger, scarier adventure waiting for you in there."

Amy looked back at the house, "Even so, it can't happen like this," she walked over to them, "After everything we've been through, Doctor, Professor. Everything. You can't just drop me off at my house and say goodbye like we shared a cab."

"And what's the alternative?" he asked her as they stepped out a bit more.

"Us standing over your grave?" the Professor shook her head.

"Over your broken body?"

"Over Rory's body?"

Amy hugged them suddenly, not wanting them to think like that. She pulled away a moment later, "If you bump into my daughter, tell her to visit her old mum sometime."

"And look after him," the Doctor added, nodding at the house.

"Look after him, too," Amy nodded at the Doctor.

"I always do," the Professor smiled.

Amy nodded and kissed the Doctor's forehead and the Professor's cheek before they turned and walked slowly back to the TARDIS, stopping in the doorway only to wave goodbye. She laughed and cried, waving at them, "Bye."

The Doctor closed the doors and a moment later the TARDIS was gone.

~8~

The Doctor and Professor stood solemnly at the console, watching the rotor rise and fall. He turned around to lean against the console, the Professor moving to do the same, leaning on him as he did her, the two of them feeling more guilt and loneliness than ever.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At the point I wrote/posted this on FF.net, they never really said what was in the Doctor's room, but I feel like because he said 'who' and not what that it was a person, and with how he is, I think it was him. And it sort of works that he and the Professor are scared of the people they were/are. It's almost like they need each other to prove they aren't those people anymore, to remind themselves of the good in them...if that makes any sense, lol.


	15. Closing Time

The door to a quaint house was thrown open to reveal Craig Owens shouting, "I'm coping on my own!"

And then he realized who was standing before him and his mouth fell open in shock.

"Hello, Craig!" the Doctor grinned as he and the Professor stood before him, "I'm back! And with the Professor this time," he wound his arm around her waist.

"Hello," she gave him a little wave.

Craig just started to slowly shake his head, "She didn't? How could she phone you?"

"How could who phone us?" the Professor frowned, "Sophie?"

"Nobody phoned us," the Doctor told him, "We're just here," he leaned over a bit, peering inside the house, "You've redecorated! I don't like it."

"It's a different house," the Professor whispered to him.

"We moved," Craig nodded.

"Yes, that's it," the Doctor agreed.

"Doctor, what are you doing here?"

"Social call. Thought it was about time I tried one out. How are you?"

"I'm fine."

The Doctor looked at the Professor a moment and she shook her head at him fondly, "This is the bit where we say, 'We're fine, too,'" she told him.

"Right yes," he turned back to Craig, "We're fine, too. Good. Love to Sophie, bye!" he turned and started to walk off, his hand slipping down into the Professor's when she stopped short, the light at the front door starting to flicker.

"Something's wrong…" she frowned.

The Doctor spun around and rushed into the house with the sonic, Craig shutting the door behind them. The Doctor scanned around, heading up the stairs as the Professor kept tense, ready to pull her blaster if need be, "On your own, you said," the Doctor muttered, "But you're not...you're not on your own!"

"Just, shh!" Craig hissed.

The Doctor turned to the Professor, serious, "Increased sulphur emissions," and then looked around, "And look at the state of this place," the Professor sniffed just a bit, a small smile making its way onto her face as she realized what exactly the small smell she'd gotten a whiff of at the top of the stairs was, "What are you not telling us?" the Doctor demanded of Craig.

"Doctor, please!"

"Shh!"

"No, you shh!"

"Shh!"

"Shh!"

"No, you shh!"

"The both of you shhh," the Professor cut into their mini battle.

The Doctor turned and strode to a bedroom door, "Doctor!" Craig called after him.

But the Doctor just pushed inside and rushed in with the sonic out, ready, "Whatever you are, get off this planet!" he demanded…

And then he realized where he was.

A nursery room with stuffed toys and cloth hanging on the walls, where a small baby boy, lying in his crib, started to cry, "Oh, you've woken him!" Craig moaned, moving over to the baby as the Doctor and Professor just exchanged a look.

~8~

The Doctor closed the freezer and turned to Craig as the man walked around the kitchen, holding the baby, the Professor sitting at the table just riffling through the baby books lying around, "So when you say 'on your own...'" he began.

"Yes, I meant on my own with the baby, yes," Craig nodded, "'Cos no one thinks I can cope on my own. Which is so unfair. Because..." he shook his head, "I can't cope on my own with him! I can't. He just cries. All the time. I mean, do they have off switches?"

The Doctor plopped down on a chair beside the Professor and flipped through a pregnancy book, "Human beings? No. I've checked."

"They do in my experience," the Professor remarked. The Doctor unconsciously rubbed the junction of his neck and shoulder, recalling just what she felt to be an off switch. She just gave him a smile, "Though I prefer the Time Lord off switch."

He frowned a moment, confused, "Fingers on lips?" she just leaned forward and gave him a peck on the lips. When she pulled away he was grinning, "Oh…"

Craig shook his head at them, setting the baby down in his chair, "I meant, babies."

"Same difference," the Doctor looked over at him.

"Sometimes this works though," she put her finger on her lips and looked right at the baby, "Shh."

Craig watched in amazement as the baby started to quiet, "Can you teach me to do that?"

"Probably not," the Professor shrugged as the Doctor peered at a baby book.

"There goes your title," the Doctor muttered and then he was whacked on the head with a roll of the newspaper.

"Oh, please come on, I need something, I'm rubbish at this," Craig begged.

"At what?" he looked up at the man.

"Being a dad. You read all the books, they tell you you'll know what to do if you follow your instinct. I have no instinct! That's what this weekend's about, trying to prove to people I can do this one thing well."

The Doctor laughed at a book, distracted from Craig's plight, and the Professor shook her head at him, she knew what he was doing. He always did this when children, particularly babies were brought up. It reminded him too much of his son, of Mayra, and that whole mess.

"So what did you call him?" the Professor asked Craig.

"Will we blush?" the Doctor grinned.

"No, we didn't call him 'the Doctor' or 'the Professor!'" Craig rolled his eyes.

"No," the Professor laughed, "I didn't think you would."

"He's called Alfie," he said, turning to prepare some tea, "What are you doing here anyway?"

The Professor leaned over, listening to Alfie gurgle, "Yes, he likes that, Alfie."

"Though personally he prefers to be called Stormageddon, Dark Lord of All," the Doctor added.

"Sorry, what?" Craig turned to them.

"That's what he calls himself."

"How do you know that?"

"We speak Baby," the Professor remarked, getting up to go set the cups out for Craig.

"Of course you do," he grumbled, "I don't even know when his nappy needs changing," he fell into a seat, "I'm the one supposed to be his dad."

"Oh, yeah," the Doctor added, "He's wondering where his mum is?" he looked up when he felt someone place their hands on his shoulder and squeeze, smiling up as the Professor massaged his neck. He waited a few moments, enjoying it before he took one of her hands and kissed her palm in thanks.

"Where  _is_  Sophie?" the Professor asked him.

"Gone away with Melina for the weekend," Craig sighed, "Needs a rest."

"No," the Doctor turned to Alfie, "He's your dad, you can't just call him 'Not-Mum.'"

"Not-Mum?"

"That's you. Also, Not-Mum, that's me and the Professor. And everybody else is..."

The Professor snorted a bit in laughter, "Peasants," she translated, walking over to Alfie and tickling his head, "That's a bit unfortunate."

The Doctor smiled, watching the Professor handle the child, she was so good with children. He knew Mayra often left their son with her to look after when they were both busy and she had a break from her research for the Academic program…that boy was as much of a handful as he was and as much of a piece of work as his mother had been…he was honestly surprised the Professor hadn't had a breakdown dealing with the child, he knew he came near enough a few times.

' _I just kept telling myself 'I will not kill Theta's son,'_ ' she told him in his mind.

He reached out and took her hand, tugging her back to his side as he stood up, he knew it was her way of coping, referring to his son as either her godson or his son, but never both. To say it was her godson, meant in terms related only to Mayra, she could pretend that the child's father was someone else, usually only using that term when talking about him to someone else. But it was his son when the boy was actually present, because she might be able to fool herself into thinking it was his son with someone who wasn't related to her. It hurt less to try and imagine he'd picked someone not genetically similar to herself.

"What are you here for?" Craig's question cut through their thoughts.

"We just popped in to say hello," the Professor said, reaching out and taking the chalk the Doctor had nearly put into his mouth out of his hand. Honestly, he was such like a child, taking so much looking after himself…

' _Oi!_ ' she heard him grumble in her mind as he pulled her closer, ' _I'm not a child,_ ' and then a saucy smirk grew on his face, ' _I think I proved how mature I am last night…_ '

She flushed a bit, though Craig didn't seem to notice as he got up to turn the kettle off, "And next door, both sides, they're humans," Craig continued, "Is it the fridge? Are there aliens in my fridge?"

"We just want to see you, Craig!" the Doctor crossed each of his hearts, "Cross my hearts. We've been knocking about on our own…"

"Which is NEVER a good thing," the Professor added, "To pair the two of us up and then leave us to our own devices…" she whistled, "The Doctor's bad enough on his own, honestly, if you leave him alone long enough he'll probably end up getting himself almost mummified in Ancient Egypt."

"That only happened once!" the Doctor defended.

"Yes, and you're lucky I had the patience to unwrap you and not just use my blaster," and then she stuck her tongue out at him.

' _Be careful with that tongue of yours Kata,_ ' the Doctor called to her, ' _Tempting, tempting, tempting._ '

' _Me sticking my tongue out is tempting?_ ' she nearly snorted.

He gave her a soft smile, ' _Everything you do is tempting._ '

She blushed a bit at the compliment, ' _Yeah...well...your bow tie is tempting too Theta._ '

' _Really?_ ' he smirked, ' _How so?_ '

' _Every time I see it, I want to take it off...among other things..._ '

He started blushing fiercely.

Craig eyed them a moment, recalling something from the Doctor's memories, "Are you two flirting telepathically again?"

The Professor cleared her throat and turned back to him, hoping to get him off that little topic by getting back to their earlier one, "Let's just say our teachers learned the hard way never to leave the two of us alone together."

"We just wanted to set off on a farewell tour," the Doctor added, feeling his cheeks cool a bit, "One last thing, popping in to see you, then we're off to the Alignment of Exedor."

"The Alignment of Exedor?" Craig frowned.

"17 galaxies in perfect unison," the Professor told him with a small grin.

"Meant to be spectacular…" the Doctor nodded.

"We can't miss it."

"Literally can't."

"See it's locked in a time stasis field…"

"We get one crack at flying our TARDIS straight into it…"

"If he's finally gotten his dates right," she nudged the Doctor.

He simply scooped up the newspaper and checked, "Which I have."

Craig shook his head, he knew from the Doctor's memories how he and the Professor talked, but to see it firsthand…it would take some getting used to, "Sounds nice," he muttered.

The Doctor put the paper down quickly and turned away from it, "So this is us popping in and popping out again…" the Professor frowned and leaned over, picking up the paper to see what had gotten him so concerned all of a sudden, "Just being social, just having a laugh…"

"Never mind that," the Professor frowned, looking at the paper.

"Never mind what?" Craig asked.

"Nothing," she said quickly, putting the paper down as well, not wanting to alarm Craig.

"No," Craig turned to look at them, "You noticed something. You've got your noticing faces on. I have nightmares about those faces."

"Nope, given up all that, done with noticing things," the Doctor said.

The Professor frowned, thinking on something, "My noticing face was in the Doctor's memories?"

"All your faces were," Craig replied, "Honestly I'm shocked I learned anything about him, you were all that was on his mind."

The Professor blinked and looked at the Doctor, who was looking away bashfully, a faint blush on his face. She smiled about to say something when the lights flickered. They looked up and the Doctor shook his head, muttering, "Didn't even notice that, for example," he took the Professor's hand, "Got to go. Good seeing you, Craig," he shook the man's hand, "Goodbye, Stormageddon," he air kissed Alfie on each cheek and turned to walk away, tugging the Professor with him.

"No, no, wait, wait, could you do the shushing thing?" Craig called as Alfie started fussing, "Shh."

"It only works once," the Professor called as they made it to the door, "And only on life forms with underdeveloped brains."

"Hang on, you said farewell tour? What do you mean, farewell?"

"Shh..." the Doctor turned to him, his finger on his lips. Craig opened his mouth to speak but found he couldn't as the Doctor and Professor left the house, briskly walking down the street.

The Professor was loathe to miss an adventure on the horizon, it seemed this body was rather fond of them, fond of sharing them with the Doctor, of exploring and investigating. She was dying to find out what was draining the power in the town…but she knew what the Doctor was doing. He was all for adventures, they'd had plenty in the near 200 years, 194 exactly, that they'd been on their own. But when it involved people they knew, their friends…their friends possibly ending up in dangerous situations…it was different.

"Just go," he muttered as they walked, "Stop noticing. Just go! Stop noticing! Just go. Stop noticing. Just go. Stop it!" he shouted at the streetlight as it flickered. He turned to her, "Am I noticing? No, no I am not," he pulled out the sonic, "And what I am not doing is scanning for electrical fluctuations," the sonic beeped, "Oh, shut up, you! I'm just dropping in on a friend, the last thing I need right now is a patina of teleport energy, I'm going. Going! Not staying. Going. I am through saving them," he pulled her closer and rested his forehead against hers, "I'm going away now."

"Yes you are," she nodded, "With me, into the TARDIS, to track the source of the fluctuations," he looked at her, startled, "And the two of us, alone, are going to fix this for Craig and Alfie," she took his hand and pulled him to the TARDIS.

~8~

The Doctor stood before a small group of children, the controls for a remote helicopter in his hand as he played with it, "It goes up-tiddly up, it goes down-tiddly down-down! For only 49.99 pounds, which I think is a bit steep but then again it's your parents' cash and they'll only waste it on boring stuff like lamps and vegetables, yawn!"

"Yeah, Soph..." he looked up to see Craig enter the store, with Alfie in a pram, on his mobile with Sophie, "Just enjoy your holiday! Yeah, coping."

And then he realized that, in looking up at Craig, he'd forgotten to keep his thumbs on the buttons of the controls, "Nobody panic, but I appear to be losing control!"

"Yeah, love you…" Craig finished when the helicopter smacked him in the face. He looked up to see the Doctor standing there and headed over.

The Doctor quickly moved to sit on the display table, "Oops," he muttered, before gathering the children to him and kneeling before them, "Guys, guys, ladies and gentlemen, while I deal with this awkward moment you go and find your parents/guardians! Try in lamps!" he gave one girl a high-five as they dashed off before standing up, "Craig!"

"What the hell are you doing here?" he demanded.

"I'm the Doctor, I work in a shop now."

"Which is just about the most terrifying thing in the Universe," the Professor added, walking around the corner of another aisle with a few toys in her hand that she was supposed to get for the Doctor to demonstrate, "That and him trying to make toast."

"Oh bring that up again why don't you!" the Doctor groaned out, "It didn't catch fire the second time…"

"There never should have been a  _first_  time," the Professor told him with a look.

The Doctor, seeming to realize he had been caught, turned to Craig, trying to change the subject, "They gave me a badge," he pointed, "With my name on it in case I forget who I am, very thoughtful, as that does happen."

"You were leaving..." Craig shook his head as the Professor came to stand beside the Doctor, a tag of her own on her jacket, "The alignment of Exeter, what about that? One chance to see it, you said."

"Well…we were on our way, saw a shop, got jobs, you got to live in the moment, Craig," he turned away, "Mind Yappy."

"What?"

"Yappy," the Professor held up a small child's robo-dog, "The robot dog."

"Not so much fun as I remember," the Doctor commented as he stroked Yappy in her hands before glancing at Craig, "You look awful!"

"I haven't slept, have I?" he remarked, "I still can't stop him crying. I even tried singing to him last night."

"Yeah…" the Professor grimaced just a bit, "He did mention that..."

"He thought you were crying, too," the Doctor told him, "He didn't get a wink. Yappy, say goodbye to Craig and Stormageddon," he ducked behind the dog, holding it up in her hands, talking in a gruff voice, "Goodbye, Craig, goodbye, Stormageddon."

The Professor turned to put Yappy down when something whizzed across the floor at the end of the aisle, "What was that?" she frowned, heading down the aisle, the men following her.

"You're here for a reason, aren't you?" Craig asked, "You noticed something, and you're investigating it," the Doctor got down on his hand and knees beside the Professor who was crouched down, looking around at the floor carefully, "Because it's you, it's going to be dangerous and alien."

The Doctor stood and held out a hand to the Professor, "It might not be."

"But it is," the Professor remarked, standing.

"What is it?" Craig frowned.

"Nothing to worry about," the Doctor waved him off.

"Doctor, I live here, I need to know!"

"No, you don't."

"My  _baby_  lives here, my son."

"Sheila Clark went missing Tuesday," the Professor told him, "Atif Ghosh, last seen Friday. Tom Luker, last seen Sunday."

She held out a newspaper to Craig to look through, "Why's that not on the front page?"

"Page one has an exclusive on Nina," the Doctor explained, "A local girl who got kicked off 'Britain's Got Talent.'"

"These people are on pages 7, 19, 22," the Professor added, eyeing the Doctor as he pushed the pram absently, Craig walking after them, checking the pages.

"No one's noticed yet, they're far too excited about Nina's emotional journey, which in fairness, is quite inspiring."

The Professor could only shake her head at him as Craig frowned, "And what else?"

"These power fluctuations..." she continued as they walked through the children's department, "Happen to coincide with the disappearances."

"That's just the council, putting in new cables. Isn't it?"

The Doctor stopped in front of a lift blocked by construction tape with a sign reading 'Out Of Order' stuck to it, "Oh, yes, that's it, mystery solved," the Doctor rolled his eyes, it seemed the 200 years with the Professor had made him a tad more sarcastic than before, "Oh, wasting our time, now you can go home and…" he patted his pockets for the sonic, frowning, only to hear the familiar sound beside him. He turned to see the Professor had already somehow gotten if off him and was using it on the lift, "We can go to Exedor, goodbye, and here's a lift."

"It says out of order…"

"Not anymore," the Professor smiled, pulling down the tape.

"See?" the Doctor grinned, "Here to help," he reached out and took the Professor's hand, "Maintenance Woman of the Universe."

She shook her head at him, "That's Mrs. Oncoming Storm," and stepped into the lift as the doors opened.

The Doctor started to push the pram in after her when Craig took it back, following them hesitantly, "It says, 'danger.'"

"Oh, rubbish, lifts aren't dangerous," he remarked.

"Do I look like I'm stupid?"

Alfie gurgled and the Doctor smiled a bit at him, "Quiet, Stormy!"

The Professor shook her head and soniced the panel, "You're right Craig, there's more. Just between the four of us, someone's been using a teleport relay, right here in this shop. Missing people last seen in this area."

The Doctor placed a finger on Craig's lips, "Before you ask, CCTV's been wiped."

"A teleport?" he stammered, "A teleport? Like a beam me up teleport…" he threw his hands up, "Like you see in 'Star Trek?'"

"Exactly," the Professor nodded before nudging the Doctor, "I wonder who was responsible for that making it into the series hmm?"

The Doctor gave her a sly grin and wrapped an arm around her, turning to Craig, "Someone's been using a beam me up Star Trek teleport that could be disguised as anything."

"But a teleport?" Craig shook his head, "In a shop? That's ridiculous!" the lights began to flicker and suddenly they were no longer in the lift.

The Professor looked around quickly, assessing their new location and stiffened, recognizing the technology and structures around them, ' _Cybership,_ ' she whispered to the Doctor who nodded, his hand sliding down to hers, taking back the sonic while her hand moved to her blaster, both of them being careful not to alert Craig to their actions as he didn't seem to notice their teleport yet.

"What was that?" Craig asked, "Was that the lights again?"

"Yes, that's it," the Doctor said, his voice just a bit squeaky, "That's all, it's the lights."

"Why did you say that like that?" Craig turned to him.

"Like what?"

' _Still high,_ ' the Professor remarked.

He cleared his throat, "Like...like what?"

"Like that, in that high-pitched voice."

"Just keep looking at me, Craig," he told the man, glancing at the Professor as she stepped past Craig to stand behind him, taking to guarding them till he could reverse the teleport and get them out, "Right at me, just keep looking."

"Why?"

"Well, because...because...because..." Craig started to turn around and the Doctor grabbed his arms, "I love you!"

"You love me?" Craig's eyes widened as the Professor tried her hardest not to laugh and draw Craig's attention. She would really have to work on the Doctor's improvisational skills. She should have started ages ago with the whole escaped fish thing on the Starship UK but…things got in the way.

"Yes, Craig. It's you. It's always been you."

"But…the Professor…" Craig started to turn.

The Doctor's eyes widened at that hole in his 'confession,' "You're the  _human_  I love," he amended, trying in vain to maintain the distraction.

"Me?"

He put his arms around Craig's shoulders, trying to hide the sonic behind him, setting it without alarming Craig, "Is that so surprising?"

"Doctor, are you going to kiss me?"

"Yes, Craig. Yes, I am. Would you like that? Bit out of practice with humans, but I've had some wonderful feedback from the Professor…" he puckered up.

Craig shook his head, his mind jolting at the mention of the woman behind him, "Doctor, no, I can't, I'm taken...you're married!" he turned around and gasped, seeing they were inside a spaceship, "Oh, my God!"

"Or we could just hold hands if it makes you feel more comfortable?"

"What is happening?"

A Cyberman stepped out of a doorway in the distance and spotted them, "Well, first of all, I don't really love you, except as a friend," the Doctor began.

"Not now!" the Professor shouted as the Cyberman started to walk towards them. She quickly shot it down with her blaster, they were too far away to truly damage it, but she could stun it for a moment or two.

"And what is  _that_?" Craig asked as the metal man fell onto its back.

"Doctor the teleport!"

The Doctor held up the sonic and they disappeared in a flash of light, back in the lift, "Quick reverse!" the Doctor cheered, flipping the sonic in his hands.

"What the hell just happened?" Craig gaped at them.

The lift opened and the Doctor and Professor strode out, Craig pushing Alfie behind them, "They must have linked the teleport relay to the lift," the Professor muttered as they walked.

The Doctor nodded, "I've fused it at least. They can't use that again. Stuck up there on their spaceship."

"What were those things?" Craig asked.

"Cybermen," the Professor and Doctor said at once.

"Ship? Spaceship? We were in space?"

The Doctor stepped outside into the night as the Professor plucked the sonic off him, scanning the sky with it, "It's got to be up there somewhere," she murmured before looking at the results with a sigh, "Can't get a fix," she looked at the Doctor, "It must be shielded."

"But he fused the teleport. You sorted it. They can't come back."

"I've just bought us a little time," the Doctor replied.

"Still got to work out what they're doing before we can stop it," the Professor agreed.

"But if they've got the teleport and they're evil, why haven't they invaded already?" Craig frowned.

"Craig..." the Doctor turned to him, "Take Alfie and go."

"No!"

"No?"

"No, I remember from last time, people got killed, people that didn't know you. I know where it's safest, for me and Alfie. And that's right next to you."

"Is that so?" he started to smile.

"Well…you and the Professor," he remarked, "She's kept you plenty safe hasn't she?"

The Doctor looked at his wife and smiled fondly, pulling her just a bit closer as he wrapped his arm around her waist, "That she has."

"Can't be very easy."

"Especially if there's a toaster involved," she joked, nudging the Doctor, but giving him a peck on the cheek as he rolled his eyes at her.

"Yeah, you always win, you always survive!" Craig grinned.

"Those were the days," he sighed.

"Still are," the Professor corrected him.

"I can help you, I'm staying!" Craig determined.

"Craig..." the Doctor shook his head before rubbing it, "Craig, alright, alright...maybe those days aren't quite over yet."

The Professor grinned and stepped away from him, her hand trailing down his to take his, "Now, let's go and investigate..."

He nodded, walking with her, "I mean, there's no immediate danger now."

~8~

The Doctor, Professor, and Craig walked into the department store once again, through the jewelry department. The Doctor and Craig were walking by the pram while the Professor walked a bit to the side and ahead, keeping a look out just in case.

"Good afternoon, Val," she called to an older woman behind the counter.

"Hello!" she waved to them.

The Doctor started to walk over to the counter when Craig grabbed him, "Where am I investigating?" he asked them as the Professor walked over.

"Well, look round," the Doctor shrugged, "Ask questions. People like it when you're with a baby, babies are sweet, people talk to you. They don't take to kindly to a blaster in their face like  _some_  aliens prefer," he mockingly turned a small glare at the Professor.

She gave him a mock glare of her own, "Hate you."

"No you don't," he grinned, before returning his attention to Craig, "That's why I usually take a human with me."

Craig frowned, "So I'm your baby?"

"You're my baby!" he hugged Craig.

"Keep 'em peeled," the Professor gestured to her eyes and then Craig. She and the Doctor waited till he walked off with Alfie before heading over to the counter where Val was working. The Doctor pulled off a pair of sunglasses from the side display and looked at them a moment before placing them on the Professor, smiling widely at her as she pushed them up and onto her head.

"Hope you don't mind me saying, Doctor," Val began, "But I think you look ever so sweet, you and your partner and the baby."

"Partner…" the Doctor muttered in thought, not noticing the Professor shaking her head as the woman's implication went right over his head, "Yes, I like it. Is it better than 'companion?'"

"Companion sounds old fashioned. There's no need to be coy these days," she smiled and looked at the Professor, "And you, Professor, being so supportive of your brother," she nodded off towards where Craig had wandered, "It warms my heart."

The Professor nearly laughed at that, recalling when she and Amy were about to infiltrate the vampire school and the Doctor had suggested he pose as their brother to get them in, she'd much rather be thought of as Craig's sister than the Doctor's. Her laughter died though as a sad smile made its way onto her face, thinking of their Companions.

"You've not noticed anything unusual around here lately, Val?" she asked, shaking her head, getting out of those thoughts.

"Well..." Val began.

"Yes, yes?" the Doctor leaned forward.

"Mary Warnock saw Don Petheridge snogging Andrea Groom outside the Conservative Club on his so called day off 'golfing.'"

"Yeah," the Doctor said slowly, shaking his head as he looked at the Professor, "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all," he turned to air kiss Val on each cheek before the two of them turned to go.

"And then there's that silver rat thing," she called after them.

The Professor turned to her with a smile, "What?"

~8~

The Doctor was crouched down under a table, scanning with the sonic as the Professor knelt beside him with a large net, waiting and ready to capture what she could only assume was a Cybermat based on Val's description.

"A silver rat," the Doctor muttered, standing up, "Glowing red eyes."

"Yes," Val nodded, "Then it zizzed off. I wanted to get one for my nephew, but stockroom say there's no such item."

"I bet they do," the Professor mumbled as the Doctor put the sonic away.

"Well, what was it then? Answer me that," before either of them could answer there was a crash from the other end of the department, like stands falling over, "What's all that hullabaloo?"

"Um…" the Doctor winced, "That'll be my partner!"

The Professor quickly handed Val the net as the two of them ran off.

"Make a habit of hanging round in women's wear, sir?" they heard George, the security guard, asking Craig as they drew nearer to the women's department, seeing him fumbling with the stands, trying to right them.

"I'm sorry, oh, shh, shh, Alfie, come on," Craig turned to Alfie, rocking the pram as he fussed.

"He's a pervert, look at him," Kelly, one of the younger employees, remarked.

The Doctor and Professor ran over, "Hello, everyone!" the Professor greeted.

"Here to help," the Doctor added.

"Hello, Doctor," Kelly grinned.

"Hello, Professor," George nodded.

"Hello," he smiled.

"Has anyone seen a silver rat?" the Professor asked, getting on point. But from their blank looks the answer was obvious.

"No, ok. Long shot, I see you've met our friend, Craig. Nice uniform George," he gave George an 'ok' sign and whistled.

"Thank you, Doctor," George smiled lightly, glancing at Craig, "If he's with you, that's alright then."

"Sorry," Kelly turned to the Professor, "I thought he was hassling me, 'cos that's the last thing I need today. 'Cos Shona's not turned up, right, so I'm doing twice the work for the same money."

"Shh!" the Doctor whispered as the two stopped talking.

"Please teach me how to do that," Craig pleaded.

"No hold on..." the Professor shook her head, "Un-shh!" she turned to Kelly, "Shona?"

"My supervisor," she sighed, "She's meant to be in today but never showed up."

"Where did you last see her?"

~8~

The Doctor and Craig walked through the corridor of the changing rooms while the Professor shook her head behind them. She had told them she would investigate as this was the ladies' room, however the Doctor wouldn't have it. He'd grown surprisingly possessive and overprotective during their 194 years, hardly ever letting her split up from him, not that she was ever very eager to be apart from him anyway. But he had also grown a bit free. He was less afraid of making slightly suggestive remarks to her, loved touching her when he knew it would surprise her and earn him a little shiver. He'd truly adapted to his title as the Oncoming Storm and she found herself rather fond of getting caught in one. He's started taking charge as she often had and was even able to argue with her and win a few times...though she blamed it on his distractive techniques, she NEVER should have taught him them for he was far too good at using them against her. She blushed a bit thinking about just what his distractive tactics were…and then she spotted a faint blush creeping up on the back of his neck and knew he'd heard her thoughts and was recalling the same. It was a shame though, that in the 194 years they'd been alone he'd started blushing less for things he used to blush for, but it just gave her a challenge of finding new things and ways to make him blush.

"How do you do that?" Craig asked them as they walked, "It's a power, isn't it, some sort of weird alien hypnotic power, I bet you excrete some sort of gas that makes people love you."

"Would that I could, Craig," the Doctor remarked, he opened a curtain and a woman screamed, he quickly closed it, "Sorry, Madam," he peeked in, "I'd try that in red if I were you…" he swallowed hard and closed the curtain, trying to hide the latest image in his mind.

He glanced over to see the Professor staring at him with an eyebrow raised, ' _I thought you preferred me in green?_ ' she asked him silently, smirking at the blush now on his face. He'd been picturing her in the lingerie the woman in the room had been trying on.

"I'm right though, aren't I?" Craig asked, saving him from his thoughts.

The Doctor shook his head as the Professor turned to look in another room, "You love me," he turned to Craig, "I've never excreted any weird alien gases at you."

"Wait till he has a taco," the Professor grumbled.

"Oi!" the Doctor shouted, embarassed.

"I don't love him!" Craig defended, "Don't start that again."

Alfie gurgled and the Professor smiled at him, "Yes, I know. Of course he does. I do too for that matter, though a far different love."

The Doctor beamed at her, reaching out to take her hand.

Craig frowned a moment, "Are you using my baby to flirt with the Doctor?" before he realized what his son had implied, "I do not love him!"

"Of course you do," the Doctor laughed at him, "We're partners."

"But I did exactly what you would have done and I nearly got arrested!"

"Been there before," the Professor nodded as Alfie gurgled.

"Stormy thinks you should believe in yourself more," the Doctor translated as he scanned the rooms.

"Great, now my baby is reviewing me," Craig sighed.

The Doctor stepped into the last room, "Here. Right here. Last night, a Cyberman took Shona."

"A Cyber _man_...I thought it was a little silver rat?"

"It's not a rat," the Professor shook her head, "It's a Cybermat."

"Alright don't have a go at me just 'cos I don't know the names."

The Professor walked over to him and put her arm around his shoulders, "Don't worry Craig, you wouldn't believe how long it took for the Doctor to memorize the names of the stars," she told him, "You wouldn't believe how many hours, how much tutoring…"

"Oi!" the Doctor tugged her back to him, he always seemed to do that, not letting other men get too close to her, even in a platonic sense, there was that possessiveness, though she couldn't complain, she was just as bad, if not worse, when other women were involved as she also had a blaster on hand, "Tell him about that and I'll tell him about your TARDIS exam," and then he proceeded to tickle her sides a bit, making her squirm against him before slapping his hands away. She shook her head at him and walked back down the corridor, the Doctor watching her go with a soft expression on his face.

Craig couldn't help but smile at that, he knew that look, it was the same one he got when he thought about Sophie.

The Doctor shook his head and clapped his hands, smiling at him as he followed after the woman, Craig pushing the pram after him.

"Cybermats are infiltrators," the Professor explained to Craig as they caught up, her eyeing the ladies department with a small frown, "Very small, very deadly, they collect power like bees collect pollen. One of them's been sucking the electrical energy from this area."

"But why a shop?" the Doctor shook his head, "You know, why not a nuclear power station?"

"Ok, why?" Craig asked.

"Only one way to find out."

Craig's smile started to fade, "How?"

He grinned, "Let's ask it."

The Professor nodded, "We wait for the shop to shut, we stake the place out, and grab ourselves a Cybermat."

"And this is just a coincidence, is it?" Craig asked.

"What is?" the Doctor frowned.

"Aliens in Colchester? Aliens twice in my life, happening to me just when you turn up."

"This is not our fault, Craig."

Alfie started fussing, "Shh, shh. Look what you've done!"

"It's his nappy," the Professor told him quietly.

"He's mentioned it twice," the Doctor added.

"I don't speak Baby, do I?" Craig rolled his eyes.

"There's a changing station over by electrical goods," the Professor pointed.

"And of course, you'd know that," he muttered, recalling from the Doctor's memories that the Professor had a near perfect memory, probably memorized the schematics of the shop before they got jobs there, "Come on, Alfie," he turned and headed off.

"Craig it's a coincidence," the Doctor called after him, "It happens, it's what the Universe does for..." he trailed off, seeing Amy and Rory walking across the department, shopping, Rory carrying quite a few bags.

A little girl ran up to her, "Can I have your autograph please?"

"Yeah," Amy smiled, taking the girl's notepad, "Sure."

"...fun," he breathed as the Professor took his hand and pulled him behind a clothing rack so as not to be seen but so they could still keep an eye on their former Companions.

"What's your name?" Amy asked the girl.

"Ellie."

"I like your hair band," she remarked, signing the book.

"Thank you."

"Alright?" Rory asked, watching.

"There you go," Amy handed Ellie back her pad.

"Thank you," Ellie beamed, waving to the duo as they walked off. Ellie turned to her mother and pointed towards where the Doctor and Professor were standing. They looked back, over their shoulders, to see a large ad with Amy's face for a perfume, 'Petrichor,' for the girl who's tired of waiting.

"Amelia Pond," the Doctor smiled.

"That's Amelia Williams," the Professor corrected lightly, nudging him, "Or Mrs. Rory Williams. Whichever you prefer."

"Oh is that so, Mrs. Maintenance Woman of the Universe?" he asked her with a small grin.

"Oi!" she nudged him again, reminding him for the second time, "That's Mrs. Oncoming Storm to you."

He could only smile at her at that. He knew she'd already said that once before, but he loved hearing her call herself that, call herself his. It felt so good to call her his wife after all this time.

~8~

The Doctor, Professor, and Craig hid behind the perfume counter that night as George walked by on patrol. The Doctor held the net while the Professor had her blaster ready, set to stun, while Craig worked on shushing Alfie.

"Ok," the Professor nodded, peering over the counter to see George leaving the department. The Doctor stood and pulled out the sonic, scanning the area.

"Right," he muttered, "Let's be having you then, Cybermat."

"Can't you put that on quiet?" Craig hissed as Alfie started to cry at the noise.

"No! It's a sonic screwdriver. Sonic equals sound!" he pulled something out of his coat, "Take this. I got it on my discount, 10 percent off. It's a papoose."

He tossed it to the Professor who moved to drape it over Craig, helping him fasten it to himself, "Why do I need a papoose?"

"Alfie wants to attach you to him," she remarked quietly.

"You're  _far_  too slow when he summons you," the Doctor added.

"When's he going to stop giving me marks?" Craig pouted.

"Never," he snorted, "That's parenthood. Couldn't you have got a babysitter?" Alfie whined.

"No, any babysitter...doesn't have to be a hot one," the Professor shook her head.

The Doctor frowned as the baby gurgled again, "Oi! Watch it you!" he pointed mock warningly at the baby, "She's mine."

"But I'm very flattered," the Professor laughed at the baby's compliment as she helped settle him in the papoose.

Craig just shook his head, "I told everyone I know I didn't need their help this weekend, they won't answer my calls. I didn't know there was going to be an invasion of Cybermen," Alfie fussed, "Shh."

"It's ok," she whispered, trying to soothe Alfie as well.

"Ha ha!" the Doctor suddenly shouted, leaping forward with the net. They looked over to see him on the ground, the Cybermat in the net.

"That's very odd," the Professor remarked, usually they were harder to catch than that, "It must be on low power."

"Or I'm better at that than I remember," the Doctor grinned, standing up. The Professor just gave him a look, "Yes, low power's probably it."

She laughed and shook her head, walking over to him, putting her arms around his neck, "But you  _are_  better at a lot of things than I remember," she told him.

He put his free hand around her waist, "Oh, like what?"

She just smiled and leaned in, giving him a deep kiss that had Craig putting his hand over Alfie's eyes. They had been each other's first kiss on Gallifrey, the Doctor's idea really. He'd come to her once, out of the blue, and asked for her help in an experiment, hadn't exactly told her what it was, but just kissed her quickly...and then stuttered out some odd rambling about stimulants and physical contact before running out of the library. It, surprisingly, hadn't been awkward between them after that, they'd always had too good of a friendship for something like that to come between them. And he'd insisted later, once he'd regained the ability to string together a coherent sentence, that it was  _just_  an experiment, so she'd taken it as that and hadn't ever really counted it as a real kiss. She knew now though that it had been the farthest thing from the truth. Apparently the Master and the Corsair had been bragging about their first kisses and teasing him about his lack of one...but he hadn't wanted his first kiss to be with just anyone, meaningless, he'd just wanted his first kiss to be with her.

She laughed a bit, pulling away, leave it to him to come up with a whole complicated mess of a situation just to get a kiss out of her. That was her Theta.

"Oh," the Doctor grinned smugly at her as he left her quite breathless.

She just shook her head and took the Cybermat out of the net to show Craig.

"Oh, is that it?" Craig frowned, a bit disappointed.

"Yeah."

"Oh, it's quiet cute look at that," he lowered his hand from Alfie's eyes, "Look, Alfie, look," suddenly the Cybermat opened its mouth and showed two rows of sharp teeth, snapping at them. The Professor deftly smacked it on the side of the counter, knocking it out, "Metal rat. Real mouth! Metal rat, Real mouth, metal rat, real mouth!"

"Stop screaming," the Doctor hushed the man as he freaked out over the sight, "STOP SCREAMING! Shh!"

They all looked over when they heard another scream, George, "Come on!" the Professor shouted, running off with the Doctor, Craig following, holding Alfie close.

They ran down into the basement, the Doctor using the sonic as a torch to lead the way till the Professor snatched it from his hands and passed him the Cybermat. She held the sonic under her wrist, placing her blaster on top and led the way, ready.

"George!" she shouted, spotting George's torch on the floor and then George's body.

"George..." the Doctor breathed as they ran over. He knelt down to examine the man, the Professor beside him when a Cyberman came out of the doorway before them.

The Professor turned to shoot but, in a rare happenstance, the Cyberman was quicker and managed to knock her back onto the ground with its arm quite a few feet away.

"Professor!" the Doctor shouted, running over to her side, checking on her as she laid there, unmoving. He wouldn't ever tell her about the nightmares he had from when the Earth had been stolen, how he'd imagined what had happened to her, flying back, hitting the wall…he quickly flashed her with the sonic, she would be ok…

She started to groan, waking up once more when he looked over to see George and the Cyberman were gone, "Doctor!" Craig ran in, but stopped short, seeing the Professor on the ground, starting to rub her forehead, "Professor! What happened?"

"Oh, I've been chopped," she grumbled as the Doctor helped her stand. She stiffened a moment, "My God, I really  _am_  getting old aren't I?" she looked at the Doctor, horrified.

He blinked, "I'm not quite sure how to answer that without getting slapped…" he remarked honestly, "So I'm just going to say…the Cyberman killed George and took him back to the ship."

Thankfully his words had the desired effect of getting them off the dangerous topic of her age and onto a safer subject, a possible Cybermen invasion. Craig's eyes widened, "The Cybermen are here? But you said…"

"Yeah, I know what we said," the Doctor remarked, helping the Professor walk as she stumbled a bit, "We say a lot of things!" he pulled out the sonic and scanned her once more before scanning the area, "But I fused the teleport it should have taken them  _days_  to repair."

"Then that means they don't always have to rely on the teleport, doesn't it?" the Professor snapped not at him but at the situation, very irritated with how the Cyberman had gotten the one-up on her.

The Doctor watched her warily. The Professor he knew originally was never one for being done up. She would not rest till she found the Cybermen and delivered back twice as much as she had received…and since this body was more like a combination of her original and a more feeling version of the soldier from the war…he was actually afraid for the Cybermen.

"Are you ok?" Craig asked, seeing the glare on the woman's face directed at nothing in particular.

"I should be dead…" she told him.

"Professor…" the Doctor began, shaking his head. Even in a factual analysis he didn't like thinking of that possibility, ever.

She shook her head and continued, "But the arm it chopped me with, it was damaged. I got enough of a reading on that," she rubbed her head again, "Old spare parts. Which means it must have changed those missing people."

Craig's mouth fell open, "They changed the missing into Cybermen? Why didn't they change you?"

"Long story," the Doctor waved him off.

"We're not exactly compatible," the Professor added.

"But why are they using spare parts?" the Doctor sighed, looking at the Professor.

She nodded, "Everything we find out makes less sense…and that's saying something for me…"

"Doctor, Professor," Craig cut in, "Listen to me. If the Cybermen are here, then we're not safe, we've got to go. We've got to go back to base."

"We've got a base?" the Doctor grinned a bit, "When did we get a base?"

~8~

The Doctor sat at the kitchen table of Craig's house, playing mad scientist, mixing up some concoction on the table. The Cybermat on the table beside him as the Professor scanned it with different settings of the sonic.

"I'm going down the shops, we're out of milk," Craig called, "You know what to do if he cries," he tossed the baby monitor at the Doctor but the Professor caught it one-handed, putting it on the table.

"No!" the Doctor shouted after him.

"Me neither," Craig's voice echoed back as the door shut.

And then Alfie started to cry.

The Doctor looked between the monitor and the concoction, "Oh go on," the Professor laughed, shooing him off the chair, "I can handle this, you go check on Alfie."

He grinned and kissed her on the cheek, heading off, he always did love children.

He walked up the stairs and stepped cautiously into Alfie's room, seeing him in the crib, squirming. He looked up at the comical projection of the stars on the ceiling before entering, "Hello, Stormageddon. It's the Doctor. Here to help," he walked over to a small pile of stuffed animals and picked up a bunny, trying to get Alfie to stop crying by wiggling it in front of the baby's face, "Shh. There, there. Be quiet. Go to sleep. Really, stop crying," Alfie just looked at him, "Yeah…I know that look," he remarked, setting the bunny down, and resting his elbows on the crib to look down at him, "The Professor gives it to me at least twice a day, it's the 'what on Earth are you doing' look, isn't it?" Alfie tilted his head. He sighed, just looking at the baby a moment, "You've got a lot to look forward to, you know. A normal human life on Earth. Mortgage repayments, the nine to five, a persistent nagging sense of spiritual emptiness. Save the tears for later, boyo. Oh, no!" he rubbed his forehead, "That was crabby. No, that was old! But I  _am_  old, Stormy. Me and the Professor, we're both  _so_  old. So near the end…"

~8~

The Professor looked at the baby monitor sadly, hearing him speaking over it, hearing the truth in his words. She sighed and shook her head, looking back at the concoction when she saw the Cybermat was gone.

"Damn it!" she cursed under her breath, getting up, "What? Do these things run on silent too?"

~8~

"You, Alfie Owens," the Doctor continued, picking up the baby, "You are so young, aren't you? And, you know, right now, everything's ahead of you. You could be anything. Yes, I know. You could walk among the stars. They don't actually look like that, you know, they are rather more impressive," he flashed the sonic back at the projection and it became far more realistic, "Yeah! You know, when I was little like you, I dreamt of the stars. I dreamt of me and the Professor out there exploring them…I think it's fair to say, in the language of your age, that I lived my dream, so many of them. I owned the stage, the Professor encouraged me to give it a 110 percent. I hope you have as much fun as we did, Alfie," he kissed Alfie's head.

~8~

"Stop that!" the Professor shouted, readying her blaster again, trying to strike the Cybermat as it raced down the hall, wanting to get it before it rounded the corner. It quickly zizzed to the left and missed the blast.

~8~

"Your dad's trying his best, you know," the Doctor told Alfie, "Yes, I know. It's not his fault he doesn't have mammary glands. No, but neither do I! And don't even think about the Professor, clear? And...Alfie, why is there a sinister beeping coming from behind me?" he slowly turned around and spotted the Cybermat in the doorway, chomping its mouth.

"Oh no you don't!" he heard the Professor shout from the hallway before a blast of light struck the Cybermat and sent it flying. She appeared in the doorway moments later, "Come on! Run! It's only stunned!" she couldn't damage it too badly or it would never work.

The Doctor quickly followed her out of the room, reaching the stairs at the end of the hall when they heard the beeping resume. They raced down the stairs, the Professor leading them through the kitchen to the back door.

"It's going to be ok," the Doctor soothed Alfie as he started to fuss, "Good, Alfie. We're going to go outside. Don't worry about it."

The Professor opened the door and ran out, holding it open for the Doctor, shutting it as soon as he passed…neither of them spotting the sonic fall to the floor inside as the door locked behind them.

"Doctor!" the Professor called, tossing him the phone she'd snatched from the table.

"Come on, Craig," he mumbled holding it to his ear, "Pick up, pick up, pick up, pick up!" there was a beep as the mobile's message system picked up, "Craig, don't worry, Alfie is fine, but on no account enter the house."

"Doctor!" they heard a strangled groan.

They turned to see Craig, back from the store but now on his back in the kitchen, fighting the Cybermat, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!"

"Help me!"

The Doctor placed Alfie on a little swing, kissing his head, before spitting into his hands and preparing to jump through the door when a small blast struck the glass, destroying it effectively. The Doctor pouted momentarily as he'd been hoping for a dramatic entrance, but soon shook himself out of it as the Professor was already inside, trying to help Craig keep the Cybermat at bay. It was struggling far too much for her to get a clear shot without hurting Craig.

"Where's Alfie?" he shouted as the Doctor ran in, "Where's Alfie?"

"He's safe, he's safe!" he grabbed the sonic.

"Get it off me!"

"I have to find the right frequency, shut it down!"

"Just kill it!" the Professors shouted, "I'll reprogram it later!"

He groaned, 'killing' it would mean wiping its memory entirely, but it couldn't be helped right now, "Alright, alright, alright! MOVE!"

The Professor rolled to the side as the Doctor swung a pot from the table at the Cybermat, hitting it and sending it flying across the floor. Craig scrambled to his feet. The Professor grabbed a baking tray and lunged, holding the Cybermat down with it before it could attack again.

"Hold it down!" the Doctor shouted.

"I am!" she called back, "Get on with it!"

"Ah, it must be shielded from metastatic energy!"

"I made you an app for that!" the Professor reminded him.

"Of course! Right! Yes! Stand back. Stand back!" she rolled away again and the Doctor fired at the Cybermat, 'killing' it.

The Professor laughed and scooped up the dead rat, "Success!" she smiled widely at the Doctor who ran over and pulled her into a hug, spinning her around a bit.

"Brilliant!" he laughed, "What a team eh?"

"Just like old times."

The Doctor nodded and looked at Craig who was hunched over, heaving, "That was amazing, Craig, you must be really, really strong. That thing should have had you easy."

"Is it definitely dead?" he eyed the metal thing.

"Inactive," the Professor nodded, "Yes."

"Technically never been alive," the Doctor added, "It was 'playing possum' before, to take us by surprise. Bravo," he clapped.

Craig grinned, "Woo!" he closed his eyes and took a breath, before remembering, "Alfie!" and ran outside for his son.

~8~

The Professor was sitting on the couch with a loupe, working on the Cybermat , the Doctor on the floor beside the couch with a small amount of tools spread out before him, ready to hand what was needed to the Professor. Craig was behind them, just holding Alfie, "I'm knackered," he yawned, "That thing was eating up the electricity?"

"And transmitting it up to the Cybership," the Professor nodded, holding out a hand and the Doctor handed her a screwdriver, non sonic.

"But why?" the Doctor wondered, "Why do they need power, why are those conversions not complete yet, and what are they doing up there?"

"You said you were going to look at its brain," Craig remarked.

"I had to wipe its brain."

"And now I can reprogram it," the Professor added, "Use it as a weapon against them."

"The Cybermat came after us?" Craig asked as he sat down on the couch beside her.

"No, after  _us_ ," the Doctor sighed.

"They sent it after us?"

"After the Professor and I," the Doctor corrected, "Because of us, you and Alfie nearly died," the Professor took the loupe from her eye and reached out, putting a comforting hand on the Doctor's shoulder.

She didn't exactly agree with his thoughts about their Companions. It was her opinion that they  _did_ deserve to know the true danger of the situations they might find themselves in, so that they would know what they were getting themselves into. However, she also realized that it was their choice. They could come traveling with them, and she and the Doctor would do their level best to keep them safe, but things happened, and if it was their choice and they knew the dangers then it was also partly their own responsibility if they got hurt. The Doctor was of the impression that  _everything_  that happened was  _his_  fault. She couldn't begin to count how many times he had told his Companions to stay where they were, to not wander off, and then they would wander off and they'd end up in danger. Even though THEY had been the ones to get themselves into it. There was blame to share in her eyes, whereas the Doctor took all of it.

"Do you still feel safe with us, Craig?" the Doctor asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"You can't help who your mates are," he shrugged.

"No! I am a stupid and selfish man," he looked at the Professor, gently taking her hand as he added softly, "Always have been," and when it came to her, he always would be. There was nothing he wouldn't do for her or to protect her, no matter how stupid or dangerous it was, and he didn't ever want to let her go, having known her nearly 1,100 years...he was loathe to part with her or let anyone take her from him. He shook his head and turned back to Craig, "I should have made you go, I should never have come here."

" _I_  made you come here Doctor," the Professor reminded him.

"And what would have happened if you hadn't come?" Craig added, "Who else knows about Cybermen and teleports?"

"I put people in danger," he argued.

"Stop beating yourself up! If it wasn't for you two this whole planet would be an absolute ruin."

The Doctor sighed as the Professor put down the Cybermat and began to stroke his hair, sensing his anguish.

"Craig…" he began slowly, "Very soon we won't be here...our time is running out. I don't mean Exedor. Silence will fall when the question is asked. Don't even know what the question is…" he let out a mirthless laugh, squeezing the Professor's hand, "Always knew we'd die still asking. Thing is, Craig, it's tomorrow. Can't put it off any more. Tomorrow is the day we..."

"Doctor?" the Professor cut in lightly. He looked up at her, "He's asleep."

He looked over to see Craig and Alfie both asleep, the baby curled up on his father's chest. He smiled wistfully at them, a look the Professor didn't miss, and sighed. He stood up and covered them with a blanket before holding his hand out to the Professor. He helped her up and they took their work into the kitchen, allowing the tired family to sleep.

~8~

The Doctor stuck a small note in silver ink on blue paper to the refrigerator, 'Dear Craig, Gone to stop Cybermen. Sorry. Goodbye. The Doctor and Professor,' before heading for the front door. He stepped out, into the dawn, closing the door to the Owens' house behind him, and turned to see the Professor waiting for him with the Cybermat and a remote control in her hands.

"Safe mode," she said softly, tossing him the Cybermat.

He smiled at her, "Come along, Bitey," he pet the rat and they left.

~8~

They hurried through the ladies' department just before the store was set to open, looking around, when Val walked up to them, "Morning!" she greeted brightly.

"Morning," the Professor said distractedly.

However the Doctor entered a ramble, "Teleport's still fused. They didn't repair it. So the Cyberman last night, how did it get down here, how did it get out? And…why…why, am I asking you?" he pointed at Val, "And not her?" then the Professor.

"You found the silver rat!" Val pointed at the Cybermat.

"But where are the silver men?" the Professor muttered, walking off towards the changing rooms.

The Doctor gave Val a small salute and walked after her, "Secondary teleport?" he asked her as they entered the rooms.

She shook her head, "No, there's no other teleport, they must have had a backup system."

He nodded, that made sense, "Something complicated, something powerful, something shielded. Something like..."

"A door," she spotted a large mirror in the last room and walked in. She ran her hand along the side of it and nodded, "A disillium bonded steel door disguised as a wall."

"Oh that's just cheating," he mumbled with a frown.

She pushed on the mirror and it swung out on its hinges to reveal a roughly carved tunnel, "It didn't teleport down. It climbed up."

He pulled out the sonic, about to use it as a torch, when he paused and held it out to the Professor. She smiled, trading him the sonic for the remote control. She turned, pulling out her blaster and walking down the tunnel, ready with the gun and light, as the Doctor followed. They quickly walked down and into a large cavern where the damaged Cybership was hidden. They glanced at each other before nodding and heading into the ship, wandering around, on guard, till they found the conversion room.

He whistled, looking around, "Well, well, well. You have been busy."

"Doctor," she called, shining the sonic on something on the floor. He knelt down and picked up George's nametag, when they heard stomping boots behind them. They turned to see a Cyberman enter.

"You have come to us," it stated.

"Took us a while," the Doctor shrugged, standing up and turning to face it, standing beside the Professor, "A lot on our minds."

"This ship crashed here centuries ago," the Professor stated, giving off her preliminary findings, "No survivors, but the systems are dormant waiting for power."

The Doctor nodded, "And then the council stick a load of new cables right on top of you. Bitey wakes up and channels the power, you start crewing up from the shop as best you can, not enough power, not enough parts."

"When we are ready we will emerge," the Cyberman stated, "We will convert this planet to Cyberform."

"What, the six of you?" the Professor asked, adding the other people who had been taken and converted to that one.

"You know that is enough. You know us. You are the Doctor and Professor."

"Correct," the Doctor agreed, "And the Doctor, at least, always gives you a choice. Deactivate yourself or I'll let the Professor deactivate you."

The Professor stepped up, aiming both the sonic and the blaster at the Cyberman. It stepped back, only for another to enter behind them. The Professor glanced back, tensing, having heard it enter. But then…the other four entered as well…

The Doctor cried out in pain as one of the Cybermen grabbed him, pulling his arms behind him. The Professor spun to fire at it, but three others surrounded her, two grabbing her arms while the other wrenched the items from her hands.

"They must be the new leaders," one of the Cybermen said.

"No," another disagreed, "They are not like us. Brain and binary vascular system incompatible. They will be discarded. Other body parts may be of use."

Suddenly Craig burst into the room with a price scanner in his hand, wielding it like a gun, "Oi, Cybermen! Get off my planet or I activate this."

"Craig, stop this, get out!" the Doctor shouted.

"It's like you said, Doctor, got to believe you can do it!"

"You located us?" the main Cyberman turned to him.

"Teleport in the lift, bit rubbish. That little Cybermat never stood a chance. See what you're dealing with?"

"You are compatible. You are intelligent," it touched his hand to his chest panel and shot an electric bolt at Craig, forcing him to drop the scanner. The last Cyberman grabbed him and pulled him forward.

"No, I'm not intelligent, you don't want me!" Craig shouted.

"Do not fear. We will take your fear from you. You will be like us. You will be more than us," it moved to one of the conversion chambers and opened it.

"No, no, no, no."

"Your designation is Cybercontroller. You will lead us, we will conquer this world."

"Doctor!" Craig shouted as the Cyberman holding him began to push him into the chamber, "Professor!"

"Craig!" the Professor struggled, trying to get out of the grip, but Cybermen were always the hardest to escape, their holds like iron.

"Do something! Please!" the parts started to clamp down on his arms and legs, "DOCTOR! PROFESSOR!"

"Craig, don't worry," the Doctor tried to reassure him, "The Professor's reprogrammed the Cybermat, it'll drain their power!" he pulled the remote from his pocket and the Cybermat activated, scuttling across the floor…till the main Cyberman stepped on it.

"You have failed, Doctor," it stated, "Begin conversion! Phase One: cleanse the brain of emotions."

"No! Craig!"

"Fight it!" the Professor shouted, "They can't convert you if you fight back!"

"You're strong, don't give in to it!"

"Help me!" he cried.

"Think of Sophie, think of Alfie!" the Professor told him, "Don't let them take it all away!"

"Make it stop. Please make it stop!"

"Please, listen!" the Doctor called, "We believe in you, the Professor and I believe you can do this!"

"We've always believed in all of you," the Professor agreed, "All our lives!"

"We're going die, Craig. Tomorrow, we're going to die…"

"But we don't mind if you just prove us right! CRAIG!"

The headpiece closed around Craig, seamlessly welding itself shut down the middle, "Begin full conversion," the Cyberman ordered.

They could only watch in horror as the machinery started to whir…

But then…a baby started to cry.

They looked over to see the security footage of the store was on a monitor, Val and Alfie standing there, Alfie crying.

"Unknown sound wave detected," said the Cyberman holding the Professor's blaster.

"It is the sound of fear," the main Cyber waved it off, "It is irrelevant. We will remove all fear."

"Alfie!" the Doctor's eyes widened, "I'm so sorry! Alfie, please stop! We can't help him."

"Emotions eradicated: conversion complete," Craig's fingers started to twitch and an alarm sounded, "Alert. Emotional subsystems rebooting. This is impossible."

The energy around the headpiece started to crackle, "He can hear him!" the Professor realized, "He can hear Alfie!"

"Oh, please, just give us this!" the Doctor prayed, "Craig, you wanted a chance to prove you're a dad."

"You're never going to get better one than this!"

A crack appeared down the headpiece, "What is happening?" a Cyberman asked.

"What's happening, you metal moron?" the Doctor glared, "A baby is crying. And you better watch out, 'cos guess what? Ha! Daddy's coming home!"

The headpiece opened and Craig struggled within, "Alfie!" he shouted, fighting the machine, overloading it, "Alfie, I'm here! I'm coming for you!"

The Cybermen started to stagger from the emotions raging through them, "Yes, Craig!" the Professor cheered as the machinery started to release him. She pulled out of the Cybermen's grasp, grabbing the sonic and blaster from the other as the Doctor pulled himself free as well.

"Alfie!"

"Alfie needs you!" the Doctor encouraged.

"Emergency," one of the Cybers cried, "Emotional influx!"

"You've triggered a feedback loop into their emotional inhibitors," the Professor told Craig, running over to help him out with the sonic.

"All that stuff they cut out of themselves, now they're feeling it!" the Doctor added, catching the sonic as the Professor tossed it to him so he could get Craig's other side free, "Which means a very big explosion!"

"Overload, overload, overload!" they cried as the trio ran for the doors.

"Get this open, we need to get to Alfie!" Craig urged the Doctor.

"They've sealed the ship!" the Doctor breathed, the Cybers' heads starting to explode.

"We've got to get out of here!"

"I know!"

Two more heads blew up when the Professor shouted, "Oh just give me that!" she grabbed the sonic and held it up, turning it on as they teleported out and back into the lift.

The Doctor spun around in a little circle, looking at the lift walls before realizing, "The teleport!" he started to laugh, when the lift jolted, the ship below them exploding. Then he pulled the Professor and Craig into a tight hug, pulling apart when the bell rang.

Craig ran out and over to Val as she cradled Alfie, "How did you get in there?" she asked, spotting them.

"Alfie!" Craig breathed.

"Here's your daddy" Val smiled, handing Alfie back to Craig as the Doctor and Professor ran up.

"That was another review," the Professor told him.

"Ten out of ten!" the Doctor praised.

"The Cybermen..." Craig hugged Alfie close, "They blew up. I blew them up with love!"

"No, that's impossible, and also grossly sentimental and over simplistic," the Doctor shook his head.

"You destroyed them because of the deeply ingrained hereditary human trait to protect one's own genes which in turn triggered a..." the Professor began when the Doctor cut in.

"Yes, you blew them up with love," the Doctor grinned, having seen Craig getting very confused. He supposed he could agree with Craig's interpretation this time despite believing it to be too simplistic and sentimental.

~8~

The Doctor and Professor were standing in the ladies' department with Kelly, the Doctor just rambling about their adventure while the Professor watched, amused, "The building should be totally safe, structurally, and of course the bonded disillium contained the explosion."

"Right…" Kelly nodded, confused, "Why you telling me all this?"

"I don't know," he realized, "Shh."

Kelly fell silent.

The Professor laughed and looked over to where Craig was heading to Val's counter, wearing a new shirt and tugged the Doctor towards him.

"It suits you," they heard Val compliment.

"Thanks," Craig grinned.

"Discount applies to partners."

"Great."

The Professor snorted, she would have asked if it were just humans that were this oblivious, however the Doctor had failed to notice the implications as well…perhaps it was just men?

"Are you two married then?"

"Nah, we talked about it, but it's just a piece of paper, isn't it?"

The Doctor walked over and put an arm around Craig's shoulders as the Professor moved to his other side, "Thank you for your help, Val," he grinned, "Good noticing. Keep 'em peeled."

"I will," she nodded, "I'm glad you two made up for baby's sake."

"Ah!" the Doctor looked at the Professor, hearing her laughing, quiet loudly, in his head, as he realized  _exactly_  what Val had been implying this entire time.

"How d'you mean?" Craig still didn't, it seemed.

"It's nice for baby to have two daddies who love each other," Val explained.

Craig's eyes widened, "Wait...hang on a sec! Two daddies?" he looked at the Doctor, the two of them making faces and shaking their heads as the Professor laughed, out loud this time, "You think I'm..."

"His companion."

Craig laughed and turned around, "Doctor?" only to see both him and the Professor gone.

~8~

Craig stepped into his house and stopped short, looking around to see it was spotless, a vast difference from just that morning. Everything was clean and shining, there were even fresh cut flowers on the coffee table, "Who's tidied all this up?" he walked into the kitchen to see the Doctor and Professor enter through the newly-repaired door, his arm around her waist.

"See, we  _do_  come back," he grinned.

"Which can be a terrifying concept for some," the Professor laughed.

"How did you..." Craig shook his head.

"We  _do_  have a time machine Craig."

"But even with time travel," the Doctor cut in, "Getting glaziers on a Sunday, tricky."

"You went back in time?" his eyes widened, "That means you used up your hours. What about Exedor?"

"What about you being in trouble with Sophie when she comes back? I couldn't let that happen…especially if she's anything like the Professor was when it came to messes…" he winced a bit in memory of the times in the Academy when he'd sneak into her room and wait for her classes to finish…basically make a mess of everything by the time she returned…those were not very pretty moments and to this day he still had nightmares.

"Oi!" the Professor nudged him with a smile, "I wasn't THAT bad."

"If I hadn't regenerated, I'd still have the scars from when you hit me over the head with your textbook when I spilled Guvino juice on it…"

She nodded slowly, perhaps she  _was_  that bad…

"You used up your time for  _me_?" Craig still couldn't get over that fact.

"Of course we did," the Professor stepped forward and hugged him, "I still owe you for looking after the Doctor when he visited last."

"And besides," the Doctor added, "You're me mate…" he glanced at Alfie, "I notice Stormageddon's very quiet and happy."

The Professor listened to the baby gurgle, "He prefers the name Alfie now."

The Doctor smiled, "And he's very proud of his dad."

"He calls me dad?" Craig's eyes widened, filling with a few tears.

"Yes, of course he does  _now_!" Alfie gurgled, "Yeah, I know, he's a bit thick, isn't he?"

"Shut up, you two!" Craig laughed.

"Well..." the Professor cut in, looking at the watch on the Doctor's wrist, "Now it's time," she looked at the Doctor, "We have to go."

"Doctor, Professor…I know that something's wrong, I can help you."

The Doctor shook his head sadly, his arm snaking around the Professor's waist again, holding her close, "Nobody can help us."

"I hope Sophie won't mind," the Professor picked up a handful of TARDIS blue envelopes she'd spotted, "We need these."

"Where are you going to go?" he asked.

"America," the Doctor replied.

"Sophie will be home any second, are you sure?"

"We can't miss this appointment, Craig. Goodbye, mate."

"Wait there. One second," he ran back into another room and came back a moment later with a Stetson, "From Sean's stag," he put it on the Doctor's head.

"Wow," the Professor had to say, shaking her head.

"You ride 'em, pardner."

"Oh, thanks," he rolled his eyes before snapping his fingers at Craig, pointing like a gun, before taking the Professor's hand and heading out.

"Now I feel very underdressed," the Professor remarked as they stepped outside, hearing a knock at the front door.

"I think we have a cowboy jacket in the wardrobe if it makes you feel better," he suggested.

"It does," she nodded as they reached the TARDIS.

He stopped before the doors, "Well then, old girl," he licked his thumb and wiped of a spot, "One last trip, eh?" the Professor nudged him and he turned to see three children, staring at him, two little girls and a little boy, "Hey. I'm the Doctor and this is the Professor," he smiled at them, "We were here to help. And you are very,  _very_  welcome," he tipped his hat and they entered the TARDIS, disappearing off into space.

~8~

" _Tick tock goes the clock with time they can't afford.  
Tick tock goes the clock till River kills the Time Lords..._ "

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG, we find out who River is to the Doctor and Professor in the very next chapter! I can't wait!
> 
> Who do you think she is?
> 
> And a small question...was anyone else completely confused by the timeline this episode created? Amy and Rory appear on the Doctor's death date (and I'm assuming they got the invite a few days prior in order to be there), then travel, then are returned home (I always thought it was a later date than when he first picked them up, as it had been a whole summer before he saw them again in the middle). And somehow, on the day BEFORE his death date, Amy's in an ad for a perfume using a word they only learned about during their travels and a phrase/lesson she'd gotten just before being dropped off. How did that happen? Do we have two sets of Ponds running around? Like, they're at home while their first selves are running off to America? Did they ever explain it? Darn wibbly wobbly timelines...
> 
> Lol, I love how the Professor's age is a more dangerous topic than an invasion of Cybermen :) I read somewhere on the BBC website that between The God Complex and Closing Time were the near 200 years that made the Doctor 1103 at the lake (I think more like 194 or something, if the Doctor was 909 in the diner and then 1103 at the Lake). I actually thought he was lying about being 1103, but then I saw that on the BBC site and was like, oh, he really WAS 1103. So here, the Professor's about 1101 years old...I can see why that would be dangerous...


	16. The Adoption of River Song

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was debating putting this in order of what happened, but this episode was too much like Love and Monsters with its own flashbacks, so, anything in italics is the Doctor/Professor recalling the past (except the little rhymes), anything in regular font is their present. Enjoy!

" _Doctor, brave and good, he turned away from violence.  
The Professor understood they'll both fall to the Silence._ "

~8~

The Doctor sat in his cell, dressed in Roman garb, his head bowed, the beard he'd started to grow tickling his neck, his arms chained behind him as he knelt there, where Winston Churchill, the Holy Roman Emperor, had tossed him on the 22nd of April 2011 at 5:02 PM…the very same day, the exact same time, as it was now, as it always was and always would be. All history was happening at once, the past, the future, the present, all collided. Pterodactyls flew as pests over the parks, Charles Dickens was writing his novels, the War of the Roses was entering its second year…

He looked up when the door to the cell squeaked and opened, the light nearly blinding him as he squinted out. There was someone standing before him, dressed in Roman military garb, a tunic, skirt, leggings, boots up to their shins, breast plate and arm guards, sans helmet. Though there were two very distinct differences between this soldier and the others serving the Emperor.

For one…she was a woman…

And second, instead of a sword, there was a sonic blaster tied to her waist.

~8~

The Doctor walked down the hallway of the Senate house, the Professor striding before him as two other soldiers escorted him along in chains. They shoved him to the floor before Churchill in his office but backed off rather quickly as the Professor advanced on them with a glare, coming to stand beside the Doctor as though guarding him.

He couldn't help but smile a bit at that. While he'd ended up as a mad old soothsayer, spouting claims that time was wrong, she'd ended up in the military when she'd incapacitated half the soldiers trying to quiet him.

"Leave us!" Churchill ordered as the two soldiers and two slaves fanning him left. He looked at the Professor, "I said, leave us," she just raised an eyebrow at him, resting her hand on her blaster, and he swallowed hard, "Yes…right…" he cleared his throat, knowing she wouldn't leave, she seemed rather fond and protective of the soothsayer, "Tick tock goes the clock, as the old song says," he glanced at the clock, "But they don't, do they? The clocks never tick. Something has happened to time. That's what you say. What you never STOP saying. All of history is happening at once. But what does that mean? What happened? Explain to me in terms that I can understand. What happened to time?"

The Doctor looked up, the fringe of his longer hair falling into his eyes, "A woman."

~8~

_The Doctor, wearing his Stetson, appeared in a viewer, hazy with static, approaching it as the Professor aimed her blaster at it, now dressed in an old, tasseled, brown, western-style jacket and brown cowboy boots, "Imagine you were dying," he said to the screen, "Imagine you were afraid and a long way from home and in terrible pain. Just when you thought it couldn't get worse, you looked up...and saw the face of the devil himself."_

_The Professor smiled, "Hello, Dalek."_

_The Dalek, lying on its side, nearly destroyed, struggled to get away from them as fires burned around it, the work of the Professor, "Emergency, emergency, weapon system disabled, emergency!" it twitched violently, wanting to get away from its deadly enemies, "Emergency! Emergency!"_

_The Doctor quickly soniced the casing lid off the Dalek as the Professor kept an eye on its weapon systems, "Hush now," he remarked, "We need some information from your data core. Everything the Daleks know about the Silence!"_

~8~

_The Doctor and Professor peered around the corner of an alleyway of the Calisto B docks one night, watching as a hooded figure walked down it and entered a bar. They quickly followed after, entering and walking straight to the bartender, a red skinned alien partially protected through a grate, "Gideon Vandaleur," the Processor stated, "Get him. Now."_

_"Who says he's here?" the bartender sneered._

_She just pulled out the eyestalk of the Dalek and dropped it with a clatter on the counter. The bartender scurried off as the Doctor gave her a small kiss on her temple, she had been right in wanting to take a trophy as proof of how they knew, knowing it would also intimidate others with the fact that they had been able to dismember a Dalek…as well as hint at who they were as not many were able to face Daleks and live._

_He trailed his hand down her arm and took her hand, pulling her over to a table to wait. He picked up a book on knitting and flipped through it when he felt the Professor tense and smiled. A moment later the hooded figure sat down before them, lowering his hood to reveal a pale man wearing an eye patch like Kovarian's._

_"Father Gideon Vandaleur," the Doctor closed the book, "Former envoy of the Silence. Our condolences."_

_"Your what?" he frowned._

_"Gideon Vandaleur has been dead for six months," the Professor replied before quick-drawing the Doctor's sonic and flashing it at the man, making him wince and freeze._

_The Doctor leaned forward and peered into the man's eye, seeing a small soldier inside, "Can we speak to the captain, please?" the soldier scurried off. A moment later Vandaleur stiffened and they knew they were up on the monitor. The Doctor grinned, "Hello again! The Teselecta, time-travelling, shape-changing robot, powered by miniaturized people. Never get bored of that! Long time since Berlin."_

_"Doctor!" Vandaleur said, though they knew it was the captain speaking this time, "What have you done to our systems Professor?"_

_"They'll be fine, if you behave," the Professor waved him off, flipping the sonic and handing it back to the Doctor._

_"Now," he put it in his pocket, "Units like this can disguise themselves as anyone in the Universe so if you're posing as Vandaleur, you're investigating the Silence..."_

_"Tell us about them."_

_"Tell you what?" the captain asked._

_"One thing," the Doctor replied, "Just one."_

_"Their weakest link," the Professor finished._

~8~

_The Professor sat back in her chair, her legs crossed, across from a Viking-like alien wearing an eye patch, the Doctor standing behind her, a chess board set up on the table between them. One of the pieces was charged with electricity as a crowd cheered around them. The Viking hesitated to move the charged piece._

_The Doctor laughed, "The crowd is getting restless!"_

_"They know the Queen is your only legal move," the Professor nodded, entirely too calm and collected, though it was expected, not many on Gallifrey could ever best her at Earth chess, the Doctor included, "Except you've already moved it, 12 times, which means there are now over four million volts running through it."_

_The Viking looked up at the crowd as they shouted at him, "That's why they call it live chess," the Doctor reasoned._

_"Even with the gauntlet you'll never make it to bishop four alive."_

_"I am a dead man," it replied, "Unless you concede the game."_

_The Professor raised an eyebrow, "But I'm winning."_

_"Name your price."_

_"Information," she smirked._

_"I work for the Silence. They would kill me."_

_"That will kill you first," she nodded at the piece, "And if it doesn't…I will hunt you down and…well, let's just say you'll have wished the Silence found you first."_

_The Doctor reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly, "They're going to kill us too, very soon," he told the Viking, "We were just going to lie down and take it…"_

_The Professor snorted, like hell she was, she had full intentions of going out kicking and screaming and she knew for a fact he was not about to 'lie down and take it.' If anything, he wanted to know more about their supposed deaths, see if there wasn't some way for them to escape it. She'd learned fairly early on that he would not risk her life for anything, he would not just stand aside as someone killed her, he'd be fighting tooth and nail to save her, like she would him. But they DID need to know why everyone thought they had to go, they needed to know if their deaths were truly fixed points, as the Teselecta's records indicated, and why._

_"But you know what?" the Doctor continued, pulling her from her thoughts, "Before we go, we'd like to know why we have to die."_

_"Dorium Maldovar is the only one who can help you," the Viking replied._

_"Dorium's dead," the Professor shook her head, "The Monks beheaded him at Demons Run. I shot his body."_

_"I know. Concede the game Professor...and I'll take you both to him."_

_She looked up at the Doctor who nodded and she knocked her piece down, conceding the game, earning a groan from the crowd._

~8~

_The Viking led them through a tunnel, a blazing torch in hand, as they followed a step behind. The Professor eyed each of the skulls littering the floor and walls as they passed._

_"The Seventh Transept," she remarked, "Where the Headless Monks keep the leftovers."_

_"Watch your step, there are traps everywhere," the Viking warned._

_The Doctor flinched as something scurried across the floor, "Eww! I hate rats."_

_"There are no rats in the transept."_

_"Oh, good."_

_"The skulls eat them," the Professor whispered to him._

_He eyed the skulls as they turned to watch them pass._

_"The Headless Monks behead you alive, remember?" the Viking laughed as the tunnel opened into a room. There were pedestals in the center with wooden boxes atop them._

_"Why are some of them in boxes?" the Doctor frowned._

_"Because some people are rich and some people are left to rot. Dorium Maldovar was always very rich," he turned and put his torch into a sconce while the Doctor soniced the area and made his way towards a beautifully decorated box with the Professor, scanning that as well. The latch on the box unlocked and slid open to reveal Dorium's head within, which coughed a bit._

_"Thank you for bringing us, Gantok," the Doctor remarked to the Viking._

_"My pleasure," he replied and then there was the sound of a gun being drawn…two of them. The Doctor turned to see that Gantok had pulled a gun on the Professor, which led the Professor to pull her blaster in return, "It saves me the trouble of burying you. Nobody beats me at chess!"_

_The Professor looked down at the trap just by the Viking's feet and fired at it, triggering it. A hole in the floor opened and Gantok fell through with a scream. She reached over and took the Doctor's sonic out of his hand, quickly sonicing the hole shut so they wouldn't hear him scream as he was eaten alive by the skulls below._

_"Hello?" they looked back to see that the sound of the trapdoor shutting had woken Dorium, "Is someone there?" they walked back over, "Ah, Doctor, Professor! Thank God it's you. The Monks, they turned on me."_

_"Well...I'm afraid they rather did a bit," the Doctor tried to smile._

_"Give it to me straight, Doctor! How bad are my injuries?"_

_"Well..."_

_Dorium laughed, "Oh, your face!"_

~8~

"This is absurd!" Churchill cried, interrupting the Doctor and Professor's retelling, "Other worlds, carnivorous skulls, talking heads...I don't know why I'm listening to you."

The Doctor and Professor looked at him from where the Doctor was sitting at a table, the Professor standing beside him, "Because in another reality, you and I are friends," he replied, "And you sense that. Just as you sense there is something wrong with time."

"You mentioned a woman..." Churchill glanced at the Professor. He hadn't been as shocked as he probably should have to find she was as involved in these stories with the Doctor as she was…she had been adamantly protecting him before he commissioned her to join his guard as their sergeant, promising fair treatment for the soothsayer, food, and halting his execution in return for her services.

"Yes…" the Doctor trailed.

"It's not me," the Professor told him, "For once, it's not me."

"We're getting to her."

"What's she like?" Churchill asked, "Attractive, I assume," if the company the Doctor kept in terms of women were anything like the Professor…

"Hell," he replied, "In high heels."

"Very impractical for all the escapades we get into," the Professor remarked.

"Tell me more," Churchill nodded.

~8~

_"Oh, it's not so bad really," Dorium told them, "As long as they get your box the right way up. I got a media-chip fitted in my head years ago, and the wi-fi down here is excellent. So I keep myself entertained."_

_"We need to know about the Silence," the Professor cut in, getting to the point._

_"Oh. A religious order of great power and discretion. The Sentinels of History, as they like to call themselves."_

_"And they want us dead," the Doctor added._

_"No, not really. They just don't want you to remain alive."_

_"That's ok," the Doctor said sarcastically, rolling his eyes, "We were worried for a minute there."_

_"You're a man with a long and dangerous past, with a wife whose past is even more so. But your futures are infinitely more terrifying. The Silence believe they must be averted."_

_"You know you could've told us all this, the last time we met."_

_"It was a busy day and I got beheaded."_

_"What's so dangerous about our futures?" the Professor frowned._

_"On the fields of Trenzalore, at the fall of the eleventh, when no living creature could speak falsely or fail to answer, a question will be asked. A question that must never, ever be answered."_

_The Doctor pulled out a small notebook from his pocket and read it, "'Silence will fall when the question is asked...'"_

_"Silence MUST fall would be a better translation. The Silence are determined the question will never be answered. That the Doctor and the Professor will NEVER reach Trenzalore."_

_"I don't understand," the Professor frowned, not liking that at all, "What's it got to do with us?"_

_"The first question. The oldest question in the Universe, hidden in plain sight. Would you like to know what it is?"_

_"Yes!" the Doctor shouted._

_"Are you sure?" he eyed the skulls as they turned to watch, "Very, very sure?"_

_The Professor rolled her eyes, not at all intimidated, "Of course."_

_"Then I shall tell you. But on your own heads be it," he laughed._

~8~

_The Doctor ran into the TARDIS, carrying Dorium's box, while the Professor headed to the console, getting them into the Vortex, "It's not my fault!" Dorium shouted, his voice muffled, "Put me back," the Doctor tossed the box down on the jump seat and went to help the Professor, "Ow! I've fallen on my nose," the Doctor walked over to the her side and looked at the picture she had brought up, the two of them with their death date._

_22/04/2011_

_5:02 PM_

_Lake Silencio, Utah_

_"Have you got wi-fi here?" Dorium continued, "I'm bored already and my nose is hurting! We all have to die, Doctor, Professor…but you two more than most. You do see that, don't you? You know what the question is now, you do see that you have to die!"_

~8~

"But what was the question?" Churchill asked as the Professor escorted them into another room, "Why did it mean your deaths?"

"Suppose there was a man who knew a secret," the Doctor began, "A terrible, dangerous secret that he only ever told the woman he trusts the most, his wife, and they must never tell another soul. How would you erase that secret from the world? Destroy it forever, before it can be spoken?"

"If I had to, I'd destroy the man and his wife."

"And Silence would fall," the Professor nodded, slightly distracted, as she looked around the room, her body tense as though there were danger but she just couldn't see it.

The Doctor eyed her closely, watching, "All the times we've heard those words, we never realized...it was  _our_  silence. Our deaths. The Doctor and Professor will fall."

"Why are we here?" the Professor asked them suddenly.

"This?" Churchill frowned, "This is the Senate Room."

"But why did we leave your office?" the Doctor asked, realizing what the Professor had.

"Well, we wanted a stroll, didn't we?" he looked at the revolver in his hand.

"I think we've been running…"

"Why do you have your revolver?" the Professor eyed it as well.

"Well...you're dangerous company, Soothsayer, Sergeant," the man shrugged.

The Doctor looked at her as she glanced at her arm and then his own, seeing a black tally mark, "Yes. I think we are."

"Resume your story."

~8~

_"Doctor, please open my hatch, I've got an awful headache…" Dorium complained. The Professor rolled her eyes at the alien and went over to the chair, "Which to be honest means more than it used to…" she opened it to see the Doctor had placed Dorium upside down, "It's like some terrible weight pressing down on my..." he opened his eyes to see everything upside down, "Oh, I see!"_

_"Why Lake Silencio?" the Professor asked as she turned the box over, "Why Utah?"_

_"It's a still point in time. Makes it easier to create a fixed point. And your deaths are fixed points."_

_"Been running all my life," the Doctor turned to lean on the console and look at them, "Why should I stop?"_

_"You can't run away from this. Because now you know what's at stake. Why your lives end."_

_The Doctor glanced at the Professor, he would not let this happen, "Not today," he decided as he turned and dialed in a number on the console phone._

_"What's the point in delaying? How long have you delayed already?"_

_"Been knocking about. Bit of a farewell tour. Things to do, people to see, there's always more. We could invent a new color, save the Dodo, join the Beatles!" he held up the phone, "Hello, it's me. Get him! Tell him, I've got someone to introduce to him and then we're going out and it's all on me, except for the money and driving…" he pressed the phone to his shoulder and looked at Dorium, "We've got a time machine, Dorium...it's all still going on. For us, it never stops. Liz the First is waiting in a glade to elope with Jack. Speaking of which, we_   _could go to all of his stag parties in one night!"_

_"Time catches up with us all," the Professor remarked wisely._

_The Doctor shook his head fiercely, "Well, it has never laid a glove on me!" he turned back to the phone, "Hello?" the Professor watched as his expression faded entirely, seeming so old and tired, so sad...and frowned, seeing in his mind that the Brigadier had died, "Yes. Yes, I..."_

_She got up and walked over to him, waiting a few moments for the nurse on the other end to finish speaking before she took the phone from him._

_"Doctor?" Dorium frowned, "What's wrong?"_

_"Nothing…" he breathed, "Nothing. It's just..." she gently hung up the phone and reached out, placing a hand to his cheek, making him look at her. He reached up and held her hand to him, leaning into her touch before pulling her hand away, holding it in his own._

_She reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the blue envelopes, "It's time," she told him._

_He took a breath and nodded, "It's time."_

_If they had to die, he knew neither of them wanted to die alone, they wanted friends to be there. If they kept putting it off, eventually all their friends would pass on like the Brigadier had...they needed their friends there to take care of them, especially to make sure to burn their bodies...no matter how much he didn't want to think of that happening to the Professor._

_She leaned in and kissed him gently, they would be going together and as long as they were together, everything would be ok in the end._

~8~

_The Professor put the envelopes on the table of the bar before the Teselecta, still looking like Vandaleur, "Surely you could deliver the messages yourselves..." it started._

_The Professor shook her head, "It would involve crossing our own time streams..."_

_The Doctor nodded, "Best not."_

_"According to our files, this is the end for the both of you. Your final journey. We'll deliver your messages. You can depend on us."_

_The Doctor managed a small smile, "Thank you," he looked at the Professor, squeezing her hand before they headed to the door._

_"Whatever you think of the Teselecta," it called after them as they stood in the doorway, "We are champions of law and order, just as you have always been. Is there nothing else we can do?"_

_The Doctor just lowered his head and walked out the door with the Professor._

~8~

"Why would you do this?" Churchill asked them, "Of all the things you've told me, this I find hardest to believe. Why would you invite your friends to see your death?"

"We had to die," the Professor stated, "We didn't have to die alone."

~8~

_The Doctor and Professor looked over as they sat on a red 1960s station wagon, watching as a yellow school bus pulled over to the side of the desert Utah road, a younger Amy and Rory getting out with large backpacks on, "Thanks!" Amy shouted to the driver._

_"You're welcome!" the man called as he shut the door and drove off._

_"This is it yeah?" Amy looked around a moment, squinting in the sun, "Right place?"_

_"Uh, nowhere, middle of," Rory nodded, "Yeah, this is it."_

_The Professor looked over to see him biting his lip and rolled her eyes, "Oh go on."_

_He grinned and shouted, "Howdy!" startling them._

_Amy gasped and jumped, turning to see them, grinning at the sight, "Doctor! Professor!"_

_The Doctor jumped off the car with a laugh, "It's the Ponds!" he ran over and pulled Amy into a hug while the Professor just shook her head at him and got off as well, "Pond One and Two!"_

_The Professor walked over to Rory, hugging him as Amy laughed, "Hey!" the ginger greeted._

_"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Williams," the Professor corrected, pulling away._

_"So someone's been busy then eh?" Amy looked between the two of them._

_"Did you see us?" the Doctor grinned, recalling how he and the Professor had been trying to shout out at them through history at that point in the humans' timelines._

_"Of course!" Amy nodded, "Stalker!"_

_"Flirt," he countered._

_"Husband," Rory pointed to himself._

_"Wife," the Professor added with a nod to herself too._

_The Doctor just leaned forward and gave her a small peck before, "Rory the Roman!" he shouted, moving to hug Rory as well, "Come here!"_

_The girls laughed and hugged too. At least now they knew what Amy, Rory, and River had witnessed that they refused to tell them about when this whole thing first began._

~8~

"Amy and Rory," the Doctor sighed, "The Last Centurion and the Girl Who Waited. However dark it got, we'd turn around, and there they'd be. If it's time to go, remember what you're leaving," the Doctor murmured, as though recalling a hard-learned lesson, looking softly at the Professor, "Remember the best," she smiled back at him and he turned his attention back to Churchill, "Our friends have always been the best of us."

"And did you tell them this was going to happen?" he asked.

"It would help if you didn't keep asking questions," the Professor remarked, glancing at her arm to see two tally marks before turning to the Doctor, "We don't have much time."

~8~

_"Where did you get this jacket?" Amy asked the Professor as she pulled away, tugging on the brown cowboy-esque jacket, "And those boots!" she looked at the brown western boots, "So cute."_

_Rory looked at the Doctor, seeing him wearing a Stetson, "Hey, nice hat."_

_The Doctor smirked, "I wear a Stetson now. Stetson's are cool."_

_A moment later the hat flew off his head as a gunshot resounded. The Professor already had her blaster out and aimed, before shaking her head and putting it away, seeing River Song standing there, blowing on the end of her gun before she slipped it back into her own holster around her waist._

~8~

"And this woman you spoke of," Churchill frowned, "Did you invite her?"

~8~

_"Hello sweetie," River smirked, "Sweetums."_

~8~

"Yes, she was there," the Professor nodded.

~8~

_The Doctor and Professor sat side-by-side in a small booth in a 50s themed diner, River pulling up a stool at the end of the table to talk quietly with them while Amy and Rory got something to eat._

_"Right then, where are we?" River flipped through her diary, pleased to see the Professor had a small book as well that she and the Doctor were skimming through, "Have we done Easter Island yet?"_

_"Uh…" she frowned, flipping some pages, she was fairly certain but wanted to be sure, "Yes! We've got Easter Island."_

_"They worshiped you two there," River sighed, "Have you seen the statues?"_

_The Professor started to laugh as the Doctor pouted, "My head is NOT shaped like that!"_

_"Oh, I beg to differ," the Professor remarked, "Especially when you go all frowny faced."_

_"Jim the Fish," he cut in._

_River's eyes lit up, "Oh, Jim the Fish, how is he?"_

_"Still building his dam."_

_"Sorry," they looked up to see Amy slide into the booth, Rory looking at them, confused, "What are you two doing?"_

_"They're time travelers," Amy replied, "But they never meet in the right order. They're syncing their diaries. So what's happening then? 'Cos you've been up to something."_

_The Doctor and Professor exchanged a look before he sighed, "I've been running, faster than I've ever run. And I've been running my whole life," he reached out and took the Professor's hand, "Not always from bad things, sometimes towards very good things, and not always alone. But…this last race…"_

_"It's time for US to stop," the Professor finished for him, looking at them, "And tonight, we're going to need you all with us."_

_Amy nodded a bit, "Ok, we're here, what's up?"_

_"Picnic," the Doctor smiled, "And then a trip. Somewhere different, somewhere brand new."_

_"Where?"_

_"Space," the Professor grinned, "1969."_

~8~

"River Song came twice," the Doctor sighed.

~8~

_The small group sat on a red and white picnic blanket at the side of Lake Silencio, the moon just visible in the sky, the red station wagon parked a few feet away, "Napoleon gave me this bottle," the Doctor held up a wine bottle._

_The Professor snorted, "More like threw…"_

_"Salute!" he toasted, as Amy, Rory, and River clinked their glasses together, the Professor holding up her hand without any wine, having decided to forgo the alcohol._

_"Salute!" they cheered._

_"So when are we going to 1969?" Rory took a sip._

_"And since when do you drink wine?" Amy laughed, looking at the Doctor._

_"I'm eleven hundred and three," he answered, "I must have drunk it some time."_

_"You have," the Professor nodded with a small smirk, "And it never ends well."_

_He maturely stuck his tongue out at her before taking a sip from the bottle only to spit it out beside him, "Ew! Why it's horrid. I thought it would taste more like the gums."_

_"1103?" Amy frowned, "So that makes you 1101," she looked at the Professor who nodded before Amy shook her head, "You were 908 and 906 last time we saw you."_

_"And you've put on a couple of pounds. I wasn't going to mention it…"_

_"Right," the Professor scoffed, he loved to point out differences and the obvious…_

_Amy tugged on her shirt a bit and looked around, frowning as she spotted something on the rocks, "Who's that?"_

_"Hmm?" Rory looked over, "What do you see?"_

_The Professor glanced up at the rocks and then to the Doctor, nodding slightly at him as he returned it as well._

_Amy shook her head and looked at Rory, "Sorry what?"_

_"What did you see?" he asked again, "You said you saw something."_

_"No I didn't."_

_"Ah, the moon," the Doctor cut in, "Look at it! Of course you lot did a lot more than look, didn't you? Big silvery thing in the sky you couldn't resist it…"_

_"The moon landing was in '69," Rory recalled, "Is that where we're going?"_

_"No," the Professor smiled sadly, "A lot more happens in '69 than anyone remembers."_

_"Human beings…" the Doctor sighed, squeezing the Professor's hand, "We thought we'd never get done saving you…"_

~8~

"Everything was in place," the Professor explained, "We only had to do one more thing. We only had to die."

~8~

_They all looked back as the sound of a car puttering along reached them, only to see an old one pull up and stop. An older man with a worn baseball cap stepped out as the Doctor and Professor stood. The man held up his hand in a wave as the Doctor waved back, the Professor giving a nod._

_"Who is he?" Amy frowned._

_"Oh my God," River gasped. They turned around to see her staring at the lake where an Apollo astronaut was standing at the edge of it._

_"You all need to stay back," the Professor ordered, following the Doctor as he headed towards the suit, "Whatever happens now you do NOT interfere. Understood?" she paused, looking back at them, before looking River in the eye. The woman nodded and she returned it, joining the Doctor at the edge of the lake._

_He held out his hand, taking hers as she stepped up beside him._

_"Hello," he greeted, but the suit didn't move._

_"It's ok," the Professor added, "We know it's you…" a hand rose and lifted the visor to reveal a younger River Song standing there._

_"Well then…" the Doctor took a breath, "Here we are at last."_

_"I can't stop it," River warned them, tears in her eyes, "The suit's in control."_

_"You're not supposed to," the Professor reassured her, "This has to happen."_

_"Run!"_

_"We did run," the Doctor nodded, "Running brought us here."_

_"I tried to fight it, but I can't, it's too strong."_

_"We know," the Professor smiled, remembering what they'd learned from the scans of the suit ages ago._

_"It's ok," the Doctor added, "This is where we die. This is a fixed point, this must happen, this always happens. Don't worry...you won't even remember this."_

_"Look over there," the Professor nodded towards where Amy, Rory, and the older River were standing._

_River glanced over and sobbed, "That's me. How can I be there?"_

_"That's you from the future."_

_"Serving time for a murder you probably can't remember," the Doctor explained, "Our murder."_

_"Why would you do that?" she looked back at them, "Make me watch?"_

_"So that you know this is inevitable," the Professor told her._

_"And you are forgiven," the Doctor smiled as the Professor nodded, "Always and completely forgiven."_

_River gasped as her arm started to lift, "Please, my loves. Please, please just run!"_

_"We can't," the Professor's smile turned sad, accepting, stepping closer to the Doctor as he wound an arm around her shoulders._

_"Time can be rewritten."_

_"Don't you dare," the Doctor shook his head, "Goodbye River."_

_River shook her head and sobbed. The Doctor closed his eyes, bowing his head as the Professor closed her eyes and leaned her head on his shoulder._

_'I love you,' he whispered in her mind._

_'I love you too,' she replied, both waiting._

_Six sonic gunshots fired…_

_The Doctor jerked with each one, the Professor tensing…_

_Until they realized they were both still alive._

_His eyes snapped open to see River smirking, "Hello, sweetie. Howdy sweetums."_

_"What have you done?" the Doctor's eyes filled with horror._

_"Well...I think I just drained my weapon systems."_

_"But this is FIXED," the Professor argued, "This is a fixed point in time!"_

_"Fixed points can be rewritten."_

_"No, they can't, of course they can't, who told you that?" the Doctor shook his head when there was a sudden flash of light._

_"Doctor!" the Professor shouted, gripping his hand tighter as time changed around them._

~8~

"Well?" Churchill asked impatiently, "What happened?"

"Nothing," the Doctor replied.

"Nothing?"

"Nothing happened."

"And then it kept happening," the Professor added.

"Or, if you prefer, everything happened, at once…"

"And it won't ever stop."

"Time is dying."

"It's going to be 5:02 in the afternoon for all eternity."

"A needle stuck on a record."

Churchill looked between them, "Do you…"

"Yes," they both cut in, not willing to waste time on the question.

He shook his head, "A record? Good Lord, have you never heard of downloads?"

"Said Winston Churchill," the Doctor remarked.

The Professor frowned, sniffing a bit, "Gun smoke."

Churchill looked at his gun, "I appear to have fired this."

The Doctor looked down at a spear in his hand and the Professor with her blaster out, "We seem to be defending ourselves."

"I don't understand."

"The creatures that lead the Silence," the Professor explained, cautiously looking around, "They're memory proof."

"But what does that mean?"

"Remarkable creatures," the Doctor looked around as well, "You can't remember them."

"The moment you look away, you forget they were ever there," the Professor explained.

The Doctor looked at his arm, another mark, "Don't panic though. In small numbers, they're not too difficult."

"Doctor," the Professor called. He looked over to see her looking straight up but holding her arm up for him to see it covered in tally marks. He slowly looked up as well to see dozens of Silence hanging from the ceiling like bats.

Suddenly a cylindrical device was thrown into the room and rolled across the floor, beeping.

"Down!" the Professor shouted, turning and running at them, knocking them both to the floor a moment before the bomb went off with flash and a bang. Armed soldiers burst into the room.

"Go!" one shouted, "Go! Keep the Silence in sight at all times, keep your eye drives active."

The soldiers kept their guns aimed at the ceiling as a woman wearing a black suit sauntered into the room behind them.

"Who the devil are you?" Churchill demanded, "Identify yourselves!"

The Professor and the Doctor looked up to see Amy Pond walk up to them, "Pond," she said, "Amelia Pond."

The Doctor laughed at the sight as Churchill moved to aim his gun at her, "No!" the Professor pushed the gun down.

"She's on our side, it's ok," the Doctor agreed. As Amy walked closer the Professor glanced at the ginger's hand, resting on her leg, a space between her middle and ring finger. The Doctor however, was looking at her face, seeing that she was wearing an eye patch, his hearts dropped, "No! No, Amy, Amy. Why are you wearing that?"

Amy raised a gun to the Doctor and fired, the Professor making no move to stop her even as she turned the gun at her as well.

~8~

The Doctor came to, feeling the gentle sway of the room he was in. He looked over to see scenery racing past the window and realized he was on the Orient Express, lying on a sofa. He looked over to see the Professor lying on a small cot and nearly fell off as he scrambled to her side, gently shaking her awake.

"The government has again apologized for extensive radio interference caused by solar flare and sun spot activity," the radio was saying in the background.

The Professor winced as she slowly came around much to the Doctor's relief, though it was short lived when he spotted the eye patch wearing Amy in the doorway, "Amy?"

The Professor groaned, "Those stun guns aren't fun, you know," she remarked to the ginger.

"Sorry," she replied, "I wanted to avoid a long conversation. You need to get up though, we'll be in Cairo shortly."

"Amy Pond!" the Doctor exclaimed, trying to get up, only to fall onto the sofa again, "Amelia Pond from Leadworth, please, listen to me. I know it seems impossible, but you know us. In another version of reality you and me and the Professor were best friends. We...we travelled together, we had adventures..." he tried to get up again but needed the wall for support as the Professor just sat up on the cot and watched him, "Amelia Pond! You grew up with a time rift in the wall of your bedroom. You can see what others can't, you can remember things that never happened..."

The Professor glanced at Amy who was sending her a 'Really?' look and she could only sigh and nod. She'd noticed the drawings on the wall as soon as she'd woken, all of Amy's adventures with them. She watched as the Doctor picked up a small model TARDIS, not even realizing what it was, "And if you try, if you really,  _really_  try, you'll be able to..." Amy gave the TARDIS a pointed look and the Doctor finally saw it.

"Are you done now?" the Professor asked him. While it was infinitely amusing to watch him freak out like that, they had work to do.

"Oh," he realized and looked back at the drawings, "Oh!" and then realized something, "Oh..." he rounded on the Professor, "You let her shoot us!"

The Professor rolled her eyes and stood up, perfectly at ease as she'd allowed herself time to settle and get used to the train instead of scrambling like the Doctor, "She gave me the 'live long and prosper' sign," she shrugged. The Doctor's mouth fell open. The Professor had once told Amy about his last incarnation and Chloe Webber, using that sign, and he'd added how his ninth incarnation had sometimes been called Mr. Spock. Apparently, Amy remembered it even in this timeline.

"You look rubbish," Amy commented, eyeing him and his beard and clothes.

"You look wonderful," he tossed her the TARDIS.

"So do you," she added to the Professor, putting down the TARDIS, "But don't worry. We'll soon fix that," she reached into a small cabinet and pulled out a tweed jacket with a shirt and bow tie in one hand and a white skirt, jean jacket, and shirt in the other hand.

"Oh!" the Doctor grinned, seeing the bow tie. Amy just laughed and handed it over, "Geronimo!"

~8~

The Doctor stood before Amy, now dressed in his familiar outfit, shaven though both he and the Professor had longer hair. Amy sat at her desk, her back to him, the Professor beside her, the two of them talking quietly.

"Ok, you can turn round now," the Doctor remarked, reaching out to pull the Professor to his side, grinning at Amy, "How do we look?"

"Cool," Amy laughed, spinning around.

"Really?"

Amy glanced at the Professor and they both said, "No."

"Cool office though," he looked around, "Why do you have an office? Are you a special agent boss lady? Not sure about the eye patch."

"It's not an eye patch," they both said again before laughing. The Professor had managed to dress first, surprisingly able to get out of all her armor and clothing and into her new clothes before the Doctor could work out how to unwrap the toga and had gone to talk with Amy, touching the 'eye patch' to assess it.

"Time's gone wrong," Amy continued, "Some of us noticed. There's a whole team of us working on it...you'll see."

"And you've got an office on a train, that is so cool," he grinned, "Can I have an office?" he looked at the Professor eagerly, "Never had an office before! Or a train. Or a train-slash-office."

"And you're never going to," the Professor draped her arms around his neck, "Not even  _I_  know what you'd get up to in there."

Amy laughed and ran over to them, hugging them tightly, "God, I've missed you two!"

"Ok, hugging and missing now," the Doctor murmured as they broke away, "Where's the Roman?"

Amy's eyes widened, "You mean Rory!"

"Mhmm."

"My husband Rory, yeah?" she reached over to her desk and picked up a sketch, "That's him, isn't it? I've no idea, I can't find him. I love him very much, don't I?"

"Apparently," the Doctor eyed the sketch of a far more masculine Rory.

"Oi!" the Professor nudged him, "You can talk, I love you, bow tie and all."

He had to nod at that.

"I have to keep doing this," Amy explained, "I have to keep writing and drawing things. It's just so hard to keep remembering..." she leaned back against the desk.

"It's not your fault, time's gone wrong," the Professor reached out and put a hand to her shoulder, "Do you remember why?"

"The lakeside."

"Lake Silencio, Utah," the Doctor nodded, "We died."

"But then you didn't. I remember it twice, different ways."

"Two different versions of the same event, both happening in the same moment," the Professor tried to explain, knowing Amy understood a bit of it already, having two versions of her life in her head of her parents and without them already, "Time split wide open."

"Now look at it," the Doctor pointed out the window, "All of history happening at once."

"Does it matter?" Amy asked, "I mean can't we just...stay like this?"

"Time isn't just frozen Amy," the Professor shook her head, "It's disintegrating. It will spread and spread and all of reality will simply fall apart."

There was a knock on the door and a soldier leaned in, wearing an eye patch, Rory, "Ma'am, we're about to arrive," he announced, "Eye drives need to be activated as soon as we disembark."

"Good point," Amy nodded, "Thank you, Captain Williams."

"Hello," the Doctor grinned.

"Hello, sir, ma'am," he nodded a greeting, "Pleased to meet you."

"Captain Williams, best of the best, couldn't live without him," Amy remarked.

Rory turned and walked away, the Doctor holding up Amy's sketch to compare and laughed, "No."

"What is wrong?" Amy frowned.

The Professor just shook her head at the Doctor's sniggerings, "Amy...you'll find your Rory, you always do. But you have to  _really_  look. Use your eyes, notice."

"I  _am_  looking."

"You don't always look hard enough."

"Why are you older?" she asked them, "If time isn't really passing, then how can you be aging?"

"Time's still passing for  _us_ ," the Doctor said, pushing away from the desk, "Every explosion has an epicenter. We're it...we're what's wrong."

"What's wrong with you?"

The Professor sighed as the Doctor put an arm around her waist, holding her close, "We're still alive."

~8~

The train entered the Great Pyramid, now known as Area 52, a large American flag painted on the side, with a spire on the top of it. They got off quickly and Rory met them, leading the way down a set of narrow stairs, the Doctor holding his 'eye patch' with distaste as the Professor took the opportunity to do a deeper scan of the tech.

"You have to put it on, sir," Rory told him as Amy followed behind them.

"An eye patch," he remarked, "What for?"

"It's not an eye patch," Amy repeated.

"It's an eye drive," the Professor remarked as Rory went to answer, she looked at him, "Communicates directly with the memory centers of the brain? Acts as external storage?"

He nodded, "Only thing that works on them, ma'am."

"Because no living mind can remember these things," Amy added, leading them to a containment room. And there they were, the Silence, in small chambers in the walls, suspended in fluid of some sort.

"The Silence," Rory remarked, "We've captured over 100 of them now, all held in this Pyramid."

The Doctor walked over to one of the chambers and looked at the Silent within while the Professor chose another one, squinting more at the fluid than the creatures, "Yeah," he muttered, "We've encountered them before. Always wondered what they looked like."

The Silent tilted his head at him, "Put your eye drive on and you'll retain the information," Amy told him, "But only as long as you're wearing it."

"The Silence have human servants. They all wear these."

"They'd have to."

"This way," Rory nodded. They walked off down a hall, the Silence watching them, as the Doctor and Professor put on their drives, "They seem to be noticing you."

"They would," the Professor remarked.

"So why aren't the human race killing them on sight anymore?" Amy asked.

"That was a whole other reality," the Doctor explained.

"And the tanks…" the Professor began slowly, "I'm guessing they're for insulation?"

Rory nodded, "The fluid yes. They can draw electricity from anything, it's how they attack…and I don't like how the way they're looking at you."

"Me neither," the Doctor agreed, taking the Professor's hand.

"Ma'am," Rory turned to Amy, "I'm sure it's nothing, but I should check it out. They haven't been this active in a while," he turned to the soldiers, "You two, upstairs, check all the tank seals. Then the floors above, get everyone checking."

"Sir!" the soldiers saluted and left.

"You go ahead, ma'am."

"Thank you, Captain Williams," Amy nodded at him, "Doctor, Professor, this way."

They hesitated, watching Rory go to check a tank but followed after Amy, "Captain Williams, nice fella," the Doctor remarked, "What's his first name?"

"Captain. Just through here."

"Just give us a moment, just need to...check something..." he grinned, giving her a light salute, "Ma'am."

The Professor glanced back, seeing Amy speak into a comm. on her lapel as they walked over to Rory, "The loyal soldier, waiting to be noticed, always the pattern," he sighed, kissing the back of the Professor's hand, it wasn't just Rory who fit that description, "Why is that?" the Doctor asked him as they walked up to him by a tank.

"Sorry, sir?" Rory asked.

"Your boss," the Professor smiled, "You should just ask her out, she likes you. She said so."

"Really, ma'am? What did she say?"

"Ah, she just sort of generally indicated," the Doctor tried.

"What exactly what did she say?"

"She said that you were…" the Professor began when the Doctor had to cut in with…

"A Mr. Hottie...ness. And that she would like to go out with you for...texting and scones."

The Professor allowed her face to fall into her hand as she shook her head at him.

"You really haven't done this before, have you?" Rory asked him.

"Obvious isn't it?" the Professor looked up again.

"No, I haven't," he admitted.

Rory offered them a small smile, "See you in a moment, sir, ma'am."

"Yes," he patted Rory on the shoulder, "Yes."

"See you in a moment Rory," the Professor added, smirking a bit at his shocked look that she knew his first name.

"Come on," Amy called and they hurried back over to her, "Time for you to meet some old friends."

"Attention, all personnel," Rory's voice came over the loudspeaker as they entered a large open chamber the Professor recognized as the King's Chamber of the Pyramid, "Attention, all personnel. Please check all assigned containment units."

The Professor paused on the top of the stairs, just looking around the room, assessing it, the technology set up and the people within, within seconds. The Doctor, seeing her not going for her blaster, assumed it was safe and headed down the steps. She made to follow him when she stopped, her gaze drifting over to two scientists in white lab coats on one side of the room. She frowned, eyeing them closely for a reason even she didn't know but was unwilling to ignore, assessing them in mere seconds.

The woman was about a head shorter than the man working beside her. She had very light brown hair with what seemed to be darker hair underneath, hanging around her shoulders, straight, with gray eyes and thin wire glasses on her nose. She was fair, no freckles she could see, and was focused on the computer before her. However she could see from the woman's posture that she was tense, as though feeling eyes on her or possibly just ready to move if need be. Both were wearing black pants and shoes and shirts with the white coat over it, no name tag though. The man, leaning beside her to look over her shoulder at the monitor, was blond, with very short hair, just a tuft sticking up in the front, dark green eyes, and a hint of a stubble on his chin. He was very muscular where the girl was lean, but she could see his eyes flicker around the room periodically as though checking for something. The way he was standing by the girl, how close, told her he knew the woman, and the way his hand rested on the back of her chair, told her he was very protective of her as well, but not in a romantic sense...

"You were right," she heard someone say. She looked up, pulling her gaze away from the two scientists and over to a young blond woman who was speaking to none other than River Song in the middle of the room, "Just their presence in the building caused the loop to extend by nearly four chronons."

She looked up at a digital clock set up on the wall reading 5:02:57, the second kept changing back and forth between 57 and 58, as through frozen and straining.

The Professor smiled, "Cab for River Song!" she called, moving to follow the Doctor down the steps.

River turned around and smirked at her, "You're late," she stepped away to reveal Kovarian bound to a chair behind her.

"For what?" the Doctor asked.

"The death of time," Kovarian answered, "The end of time. The end of us all. Oh, why couldn't you just die?"

"Well, we did our best," the Professor remarked, "Unfortunately, for all your planning and plotting, your assassin just wasn't good enough."

The Doctor nodded as they walked into the chamber, "You just can't get psychopaths right these days. Love what you've done with the pyramids. How did you swing all this?"

"Hallucinogenic lipstick," River replied, looking at the Professor, "Unscented."

"Better," the Professor remarked, thinking back to the Judas Tree poison that had been on River's lips. She was learning.

"Works wonders on President Kennedy. And Cleopatra was a real pushover."

"We always thought so," the Doctor shrugged.

"She mentioned you," she glanced at the Professor.

"What did she say?" the woman asked.

"Put down that gun."

"Did you?" she smirked.

River shrugged, "Eventually."

"Mindless chatter!" Kovarian scoffed, really, time was ending and they were just going to stand around and talk? "Do I have to listen to this?"

"Why?" the Professor walked over to her and leaned down, "Does that irritate you?" Kovarian glared at her, "Because believe me Madame Kovarian, I can do so much worse. I know torture techniques that could make a Judoon crack…how do you think  _you'd_  hold up?"

Kovarian's jaw tensed half in anger, but half in fear as well.

"It was such a basic mistake, wasn't it, Madame Kovarian?" River asked as the Professor stepped away from the woman and back to the Doctor's side as he slipped an arm around her waist, kissing the top of her head to calm her, "Take a child, raise her into a perfect psychopath, modeled after the Professor and raised on stories of the Doctor and then introduced to both of them? Who else was I going to idolize? Who else would I try to be like? I couldn't very well kill my role models could I?"

"It's not funny, River," the Doctor cut in, "Reality is fatally compromised. Tell me you understand that."

"Dinner?" she looked back at them.

"We don't have the time. Nobody has the time, because as long we're alive time is dying. Because of you, River."

"Because I refused to kill the man and woman I love?"

"Oh, you love us, do you? Oh, that's sweet of you!" he started to stalk towards her, leaving the Professor standing there, "Isn't that sweet?"

"Get him!" Amy shouted and the Professor spun around, her blaster out as the soldiers advanced on the Doctor.

"C'mere you!" he lunged at River but she darted away, running behind the soldiers being held at bay by the Professor's well aimed blaster.

"I'm not a fool, sweetie," River said, moving to Amy's side as the Doctor returned to the Professor's, "I know what happens if we touch."

The Professor sighed and put her blaster into her holster, "You always were so slow dear," she shook her head at the Doctor, "Allow me to demonstrate…" she turned and lunged at River who jumped to the side…just as the Professor expected…and reached to that side instantly, grabbing her wrist before she could pull back.

"Get off me!" she shouted as the Doctor ran forward and grabbed the Professor's hand as well, "Get them off me!"

"Professor, no, let go!" Amy shouted, "Please Doctor let go!"

But then the clock started to move to 5:03…

"It's moving!" the young scientist shouted as the two the Professor had seen before looked over, watching, "Time's moving!"

"Get them off me!" River screamed, struggling to pull away but the Professor's grip was like iron.

"Doctor!" Amy screamed, "Professor!"

"We're sorry, River, it's the only way!" the Professor told her.

~8~

They stood before River, in the astronaut suit, back on Lake Silencio, the woman lifting her arm…

~8~

The soldiers, knowing they would be less likely to be able to take on the Professor, concentrated on pulling the Doctor away from her. They both had to be connected to River for time to continue. Three of them ganged up on him, managing to pull him back from her, breaking the connection. The Professor let go, no point in holding on now.

River rubbed her wrist, "Cuff them."

"Oh, why do you always have handcuffs?" the Doctor groaned as the soldiers cuffed their hands behind their backs.

"Really?" the Professor remarked, turning to River, "River, let me give you another lesson yes?" River frowned and the soldiers watched as she simply hopped in the air, pulling her knees tight to her chest in order to swing her arms under her so they were before her. And then they winced as she dislocated her thumb and slid the cuffs off. She popped it back in with a minor flinch and held up her single cuffed wrist. She then walked over to the Doctor and turned to the soldier who had just cuffed him, holding out her hand for something. He quickly handed over the key, "Next time you want to cuff me, you'd be better off knocking me out first," she added, releasing the Doctor's hands.

He rubbed his wrists a moment and took her free hand in his, rubbing her poor thumb, dropping a kiss onto it, before taking the key from her and releasing her still cuffed wrist.

The Professor sighed and turned around, "It's the  _only_  way," she told them all quietly, "The three of us are the opposite poles of the disruption. If we touch, we short out the differential, time can begin."

"And I'll be by a lakeside, killing you," River shook her head.

"And time won't fall apart," the Doctor argued, "Reality will continue."

"There isn't another way," the Professor agreed, managing to keep her gaze from falling on Kovarian, that woman especially had to believe that they were willing and going to die, she had to truly believe that they didn't think they had a way out or plan to escape.

"I didn't say there was sweetums," River agreed as well.

The Professor nearly rolled her eyes at how stubborn River was being when she caught sight of the two scientists from before quickly looking away and getting back to work, "River?" she lowered her voice a bit, "Who are they?" she nodded over to the two scientists, she knew it was a horrible time to ask and that she shouldn't be bothering with it at a time like that, but  _something_  was nagging her, something about them. And she never hesitated in following her instincts.

"Oh…that's just our sergeant and matron," River shrugged, "He oversees the soldiers and she looks after the injured."

"Not the time," the Doctor cut in. For once being the one to get back to point.

"Doctor..." Amy looked up, "What's that?"

They all looked up to see a line of water dripping from the ceiling.

"The pyramid above us," the Professor grew serious, "How many Silence do you have trapped inside it?"

"None," Kovarian smirked, "They're not trapped, they never have been. They've been waiting for this…for you and the Doctor."

Rory burst into the room, "They're out! All of them."

The soldiers ran for the door, quickly shutting it and placing a plank of wood across it, "No one gets in here!" a soldier ordered.

"Ma'am," Rory ran over to Amy, "My men out there should be able to lock this down. We have them outnumbered."

"And you're wearing eye drives based on mine, I think," Kovarian laughed, "Oops!"

"What do you mean?" the Doctor frowned.

But the Professor's eyes widened, "Eye drives off!" she shouted, ripping hers off her face and doing the same to the Doctor just as they started to crackle with electricity.

The young woman scientist who had been speaking to River before screamed and fell to the floor, unable to remove the eye drive before it electrocuted her. The Doctor and Professor ran over to her, but it was too late. Rory ran to help the soldiers as their eye drives started to malfunction.

"She's dead," the Professor touched the young woman's hand for her vitals.

"You heard the Professor!" the Doctor shouted, "Eye pads off, now, remove them!"

Amy pulled hers off quickly, as did most of the soldiers, before moving to help the other scientists remove theirs, ushering them out of the room through the back chambers and passages.

Kovarian laughed, "The Silence would never allow an advantage, without taking one themselves. The effects will vary from person to person...either death or debilitating agony. But they will take you all, one by one…" and then her own eye drive began to buzz, "What are you doing? No, it's me...don't be stupid, you need me…" and then crackle with electricity, "Stop it, stop that!"

"We could stop this right now, the three of us," the Professor turned to River, getting serious once more.

"Get it off me!"

"Amy, tell her!" the Doctor shouted.

"We've been working on something," Amy turned to them, "Just let us show you."

"That's our point! There's  _nothing_  you can do. Our time is up."

"We're doing this for you!"

"Then people are dying for us," the Professor walked over to her, "We won't thank you for that, Amelia Pond."

"Get it...off…" Kovarian continued to struggle.

"Just let us show you!" River stepped up.

"Please," Amy whispered. The Doctor could only shake his head while the Professor gave him a look that clearly said 'she's YOUR Companion' before Amy turned to Rory, "Captain Williams, how long do we have?"

"A couple of minutes," he replied. The Professor looked over at the strain in his voice to see he was still wearing the eye drive.

"That's enough," River called as the Silence started to ram against the door, "We're going to the Receptor Room right at the top of the pyramid. I hope you're ready for a climb," she turned and led the Doctor and Professor out of the room, giving them little choice but to follow.

"Amy," the Professor called as she reached the doorway, she could see Amy unwilling to leave Rory even if she didn't know why. Amy looked over and saw her hold up a large machine gun meaningfully before placing it on a small desk and walking out. If Amy was going to remain behind with Silence forcing their way in, she'd need something to defend herself with.

~8~

River, the Doctor, and the Professor reached the top of the pyramid where the spire had been set up, "What's this?" the Doctor asked, examining it with the Professor, "Oh, it's a timey wimey distress beacon."

"Who built this?" the Professor looked up at her.

"I'm the child of the TARDIS," River replied, "I understand the physics."

"Yes, but that's all you've got. A distress beacon."

"I've been sending out a message, a distress call. Outside the bubble of our time, for now, the Universe is still turning, and I've sent a message everywhere, to the future and the past, the beginning and the end of everything. 'The Doctor and Professor are dying, please, please help.'"

"River," the Doctor shook his head, "River, this is ridiculous. That would mean  _nothing_  to anyone, it's insane!"

"Worse," the Professor said softly, "It's stupid."

Not only would the device allow their enemies to find them, to witness their end, but it would also create chaos in the Universe, the peoples who depended on them to keep them safe, to suddenly find that they weren't there any longer to protect them…it would create hysteria. It seemed they had done their job of convincing everyone that they were willing to die a little too well, River seemed to think they thought the Universe and all the people in it wanted them dead and had taken it upon herself to prove them wrong.

"You embarrass us," the Doctor told her.

"We barricaded the door," Amy called as she and Rory, sans eye drive, ran up, "We've got a few minutes…just tell them. Just tell them, River."

River took a breath, blinking back the tears that threatened to spill from their words, but she knew they were only doing it to try and put her off her stride, "Those reports of the sun spots and the solar flares. They're wrong, there aren't any. It's not the sun, it's you, the sky is full of a million, million voices, saying 'yes, of course we'll help.' Even the Sontarans have offered assistance," she laughed just a bit with a sniffle, "Anything to save the greatest warrior of them all," she looked at the Professor with a soft smile before looking between the two of them, "You've both touched so many lives, saved so many people. Did you think, when your time came, you'd really have to do more than just ask? You've decided that the Universe is better off without you, but the Universe doesn't agree."

"River,  _no one_  can help us," the Doctor stressed.

"A fixed point has been altered," the Professor agreed, "Time is disintegrating."

"I can't let you die," she said softly, her voice breaking with emotion. These were her heroes, the man and woman whose stories she'd been raised on, the ones who had saved her from the training Kovarian and the Silence had forced on her. She could no more see them die than her own parents.

"But we have to die," the Doctor nearly shouted. He was getting frustrated, if they didn't hurry all his and the Professor's plans would be for nothing.

"Shut up! I can't let you die without knowing you are loved by so many, and so much. And by no one more than me."

"River," the Professor stepped closer but River stepped back to avoid her. She held up her hands, not moving closer, "You  _know_  what this means. We are ground zero of an explosion that will engulf all reality. Billions on billions will suffer and die."

"I'll suffer if I have to kill you."

"More than every living thing in the Universe?"

"Yes."

The Professor sighed and looked at the Doctor. He shook his head, rubbing it, "River, River, why do you have to be this? Melody Pond..." he looked at Amy and Rory, "Your daughter. I hope you're both proud."

"I'm not sure I completely understand…" Rory admitted.

"We got married and had a kid, that's her," Amy replied.

"Ok."

The Professor glanced at River once more before walking over to the Doctor. He took her hands and she rested her head against his own, opening her mind to him, allowing him to see the newest addition to their plans. River wouldn't do this willingly, they needed to show her the truth...but it was more than that...there was something more they needed to do for River in order for her to let them go without feeling like she was losing them forever because of what she was about to do. They didn't want her to think, even for a moment, that they would blame her or despise her for killing them. They wanted her to know that they would always be with her, that she would be loved by them and forgiven. She was the daughter of their Companions, a psuedo-Time Lady, and that alone made her like family...and now, there was only one way for her to know that they would never turn their backs on her, no matter what she did...

"Ok," he nodded, opening his eyes, "We'll need a strip of cloth, about a foot long. Anything will do. Never mind," he started to untie his bow tie.

"And we'll need blood," the Professor added, turning to River, "Hold out your hand," River hesitated but held her palm out, only for the Professor to nick it with a minor grazing shot from her blaster before doing the same to herself and the Doctor's hand. The Doctor dabbed one end of the tie on his cut and the Professor's before holding the other end out for River to do the same.

"River, take this end," he handed her the part dabbed with their blood, "Wrap it around your hand…make  _sure_  our blood touches yours."

"What am I doing?" River asked as she wrapped the one end around her hand.

"As you're told young lady," the Professor remarked as they placed the end dabbed in her blood between their hands, pressing their own nicks against it, and then wrapped it around their hands, "Now…we're in the middle of a combat zone, so we'll have to do the quick version."

The Doctor nodded and turned to Rory, "Captain Williams, say 'I consent and willfully share.'"

"What?" Rory frowned.

"Just say it. Please."

"I consent and willfully share."

"Need you to say it too, Amy," the Professor added to Amy.

"I consent and willfully share."

"Now, River," the Doctor turned to River, "We're about to whisper something in your ear, and you have to remember it very,  _very_  carefully and tell  _no one_  what we said."

River nodded and they leaned in, each whispering in one of her ears. When they pulled back, River was staring at them with wide eyes, looking between them with her mouth open, stunned.

"We just told you our names," the Professor smiled, "Now there you go, River Song. Melody Pond. You're now our blood-bound family, our…" she paused in thought, there really wasn't a specific translation, so she went with the nearest Earth equivalent, "Goddaughter, if you will have us."

Amy's eyes widened, so  _that_  was what she had agreed to? She'd already spoken to the Doctor and Professor about being Melody's godparents at Demons Run as she could think of no one better to watch out for her daughter if anything happened to her or Rory. It seemed they had just done the Gallifreyan version making it official.

"And, as you are our family now," the Doctor added, "We have a request. This world is dying and it's our fault, we  _can't_  bear it another day."

"So please, help us," the Professor looked at River, "There  _isn't_  another way."

River nodded, though tears filled her eyes at what she would have to do, even knowing what she did now. The Professor stepped forward and gave the woman a tight hug as she started to cry into her shoulder, now River would know they'd be there for her and always forgive her no matter what, you never turn your back on family. She looked at the Doctor over River's shoulder and he stepped forward, hugging her from the back, holding them both, making a…

"River Sandwich," the Professor laughed just a bit, now understanding.

River let out one final, sad laugh...and time resumed.

~8~

Younger River sobbed as four fast blasts shot out of her blaster, striking the Doctor and Professor in their hearts, they fell backwards.

"No!" they could hear Amy screaming as she tried to run to them.

"Amy no!" River grabbed her, both her and Rory holding her, "Stay back! The Professor said to stay back!"

"No!" Amy struggled as they fell to the ground, the Doctor on his side, the Professor to her knees.

"We have to stay back!"

The Professor crawled over to the Doctor, helping him up, both struggling to stumble to their feet. They looked at their hands as they started to glow with regeneration energy.

"Doctor!" Amy yelled, "Professor!"

The Doctor looked over at them, tears in his eyes, "I'm sorry," he whispered. He looked at the Professor, struggling to breathe, "Love you."

She gave him a tense grin, "Love you too."

And then they threw their heads back as the cycle hit full force…

And young River closed her eyes tightly, firing two more bolts as quickly as she could, one hitting each of them. The orange-gold glow disappeared and they collapsed to the ground, unmoving. She let out a broken sob and turned to the lake, walking away, as her mother screamed.

"No!" she heard herself yell as they all ran over.

"Doctor!" Amy joined her, "Professor!" they fell to their knees beside the bodies as she continued into the lake, "Doctor please!" Amy pleaded.

Rory knelt down beside the Professor, taking her hand in his as he felt for a pulse, "Come on Professor…" he muttered…

But there was nothing.

River crouched between the two, holding a small monitor over the Professor, hearing a flat line, "River…" Amy breathed as she turned to the Doctor, getting the same result, "River!" River looked down, stunned, "No, no!"

River shook her head and jumped up, rushing to the lake and firing at the astronaut…only for it to disappear below the surface of the water, "Of course not…" she muttered as she ran out of bullets.

She turned around to see the old man set a gas can by the Doctor's feet, "River they can't be dead," Amy muttered, "This isn't possible."

"Whatever that was, it killed them in the middle of their regeneration cycle," River whispered, crouching down again, "Their bodies were already dead. They didn't make it to the next ones."

"Maybe they're clones or a duplicates or something," Amy shook her head,  _anything_  to explain it.

"Maybe I can save you some time," the old man said softly as he pulled his hat off, "That most certainly is the Doctor and Professor and they are most certainly dead," he turned to River and motioned to the gas can, "She said you'd need this."

"Gasoline?" Rory frowned.

"A Time Lord's body is a miracle," River rubbed her forehead, "Even a dead one. There are whole empires out there that would rip this world apart for just one cell," she swallowed hard and rose, "We can't leave them there. Or anywhere."

"Wake up!" Amy whacked the Doctor on the chest, "Come on, wake up!" he didn't move, so she turned to the Professor, shaking her, "Stop it! Please, just wake up!" but she didn't move either, "Why would they do this?" she whispered, shaking her head, stunned, she looked at Rory, "What do we do Rory?"

"We're their friends," River answered, "We do what the Doctor and Professor's friends always do," she looked at the can, "As we're told."

"There's a boat," Rory spotted an old rickety thing at the edge of the lake, "If we're gonna do this, let's do it properly."

~8~

The quartet stood at the edge of the lake, watching as the Doctor and Professor burned together on the small boat floating on the lake. Rory shook his head, walking out of the lake and over to Amy, pulling her into his arms in comfort.

"Who are you?" River looked at the old man, "Why did you come?"

"Same reason as you," he said, showing her a blue envelope much like the ones she and Amy had received, River pulled out her own, comparing it to his, "Dr. Song," he nodded at her before turning to Amy and Rory, "Amy, Rory. I'm Canton Everett Delaware III. I won't be seeing you again, but you'll be seeing me," he put his hat on, giving them one more nod before scooping up the can and heading off.

River turned to Amy and Rory with wide eyes, "Four."

"Sorry, what?" Rory frowned as they walked over.

"They numbered the envelopes..."

~8~

"And you are forgiven. Always and completely forgiven."

~8~

" _Tick tock goes the clock, they gave all they could give her.  
Tick tock goes the clock, now prison waits for_   _River._ "

~8~

Two hooded figures walked side-by-side, carrying a small box on a platform between them, Dorium's head box, before solemnly placing it on its pedestal.

"Who's carrying me?" he demanded, his voice muffled, "I demand to know...I'm a head, I have rights! I want my doors open this time. I demand that my doors are open," one of the figures slid the box open and they walked away, "Is it you? It is, isn't it?" they stopped and turned around slowly, "It IS you, I can sense it. But how did you do it? How could you  _possibly_ have escaped?"

~8~

_"Is there nothing else we can do?" the Teselecta asked._

_The Doctor just lowered his head and walked out the door with the Professor, only for her to pull him back in with a grin, "Actually, thinking about it..." she began._

~8~

_"Look into our eyes," the Doctor and Professor whispered to River._

_River pulled away to do just that, looking straight into the Professor's left eye to see two soldiers salute her before turning to the Doctor's right eye. There, in the small window, was a small version of him and the Professor, who was wearing a small headset. The Professor waved as the Doctor pulled off his hat and waved as well before turning and pulling the Professor to him, doing a sort of waltz as they laughed and dashed back towards the TARDIS behind them._

~8~

The figures dropped their cloaks to reveal the Doctor and Professor. Dorium looked on, stunned, "The Teselecta," the Professor grinned, "Not the  _only_  one of its kind in the Universe. So we borrowed a spare as well."

"A Doctor and Professor in a Doctor/Professor suit," the Doctor explained as they walked towards Dorium, "Time said we had to be on that beach so we dressed for the occasion barely got singed in that boat."

"So you're going to do this, let them all think you're dead?" he frowned.

"It's the only way," the Professor nodded.

"Then they can all forget us," the Doctor agreed, "I got too big, Dorium, too noisy...time to step back into the shadows, take a few lessons from my lovely wife in the art of discretion."

"About time too," she remarked, putting an arm around his waist.

"And Dr. Song?" Dorium frowned, "In prison all her days?"

"Her days, yes," he nodded.

"But her nights...weekends…holidays…" the Professor grinned.

Dorium sighed, "So many secrets. I'll help you keep them, of course..."

"Well, you're not exactly going anywhere, are you?" the Doctor laughed.

"But you're fools nonetheless. It's all still waiting for you...the fields of Trenzalore, the fall of the eleventh. And the question!"

The Professor gave him a small salute, "Goodbye, Dorium," as they turned and walked back down the tunnel, the head shouting after them.

"The first question! The question that must never be answered, hidden in plain sight. The question you've been running from all your life. Doctor who? Doctor who? Doc...tor...WHO?"

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just some reasons/explanations:
> 
> So there you have my twist as to how to get River Song sorted out. To the Doctor and Professor, River Song is their family, their godchild (for lack of a better word/translation).
> 
> My reasoning for not making some complicated explanation/relationship between her and the Doctor and the Professor is that the story is different with the Professor involved. When it was just the Doctor, he was available and River was only to kill him. Now that there's the Professor and he's taken by her, it's a different dynamic that this River was raised under. She hasn't developed feelings of that nature towards the Doctor because he was never available in this story-universe. She would feel differently with two Time Lords being involved. She's been raised on stories of the two of them, been through a training program modeled after the Professor, so the Professor has always been there along with the Doctor. And there has been nothing romantic going on between him and River at any point in this story, so it's easier to imagine it as a platonic relationship and more familial.
> 
> I imagine River's calling the Doctor and Professor Sweetie and Sweetums has now/will become a more affectionate version of calling them Godmother and Godfather. Since they are Time Lords and she is part Time Lord, they are like a second set of parents, ones that are from another part of who she is, part Time Lord. She can't really call them mum and dad since she has human ones, and Godmum and Goddad I feel would be awkward to shout out in the middle of an adventure, so sweetie and sweetums it is :) Not a real adoption, but definitely one in terms of being adopted into their family. If you remember, I mentioned that the only time exchanging of true names is done is when it involves family and creating or adding to it. They've added River. I'm not sure if it's a real 'adoption' or not, I'm still not sure if it was a real 'wedding' in the actual episode so until that's cleared up, we can just think of her as being their goddaughter for now. She always will be, in human terms at least, and I like to think that, at some point (if it wasn't real), they will make her their goddaughter completely in Gallifreyan terms as well (remember, we still don't know when River learns the Doctor's name, whether it's on the fall of the eleventh or not).
> 
> I hope it came across exactly why they decided to make her their godchild then. In the actual episode I couldn't help but go, um, why? When the Doctor suddenly decided to marry her, (to me) it just felt SO out there, even for him. It made me feel like he was just doing it to make River happy and not because he loved her. Here, I tried to make it more about River feeling like the Time Lords would never forgive her for killing them (she thought they were real at that point) and that they'd hate her for it and this was their way of saying they wouldn't because she's family and to do a Gallifreyan version of an 'adoption' was far more serious because they would (eventually) tell her their names, meaning they trusted her and would never hate her. I just tweaked the whole handfasting 'wedding' thing into a sort of little ritual, like when people want to be 'blood brothers' or something and cut their hands like that.
> 
> Can you picture how horrible things must have been for River during a few adventures, like not trusting her during the Impossible Astronaut chapter or even when she gets to the Library and they don't know her? She knows them as her godparents and they don't trust her/treat her like she's not family. I've always had an idea of who I wanted River Song (this version) to be since the Library, because I was wondering who she was to them, and writing out the adventures with her knowing and them not knowing...I actually felt really bad for her :( But now they know! Yay! And you can actually see some sort of traits she's picked up from them over the adventures, speaking Doctor, switching narrative with the Professor, her ability to fight, the way she knows how to get the Doctor's interest/attention, her excitement and curiousity. I imagine with them knowing she's family now, she'd be spending a lot of time with them off screen (her nights...weekends...holidays...lol) and would definitely pick up some habits.
> 
> Here the question relates only to the Doctor (Doctor who?) because he's been the one out and about, changing time for the most part, BUT the Silence are after both him and the Professor because they BOTH know WHO the Doctor is.
> 
> And...next chapter is NOT the game changing decision. Lol. Next chapter is the mini-episodes of First Night and Good Night! Ha! Tricked you! BUT...the 'next' chapter to be posted then we get our game changer, it's pretty big in terms of the dynamic of the show and the Doctor...oh I can't wait! :)


	17. First and Last Night

The Doctor and Professor worked on piloting the TARDIS, the Doctor pulling a lever, allowing the box to land, quite a tight squeeze, he was rather proud he'd made it. The Professor laughed and gave him a kiss on the cheek just before the door opened and a younger River Song entered, dressed in pants, tank top, and boots. They walked over to the end of the console as she walked closer…

She frowned, seeing a metallic-gold dress, quite low-cut, dangling from a hanger beside them, "The dress is a little daring…"

"Yup," the Doctor agreed, "So I went for this instead," he gestured to his white jacketed suit.

"And I threatened to withhold sex…"

"PROFESSOR!" the Doctor blushed terribly at her bluntness while River let out a loud laugh.

"If he tried to make me wear it," she finished with a smirk, "I rather like my outfit don't you think?" she motioned at her black dress pants and vest with a light blue blouse. She was not about to let the Doctor manipulate her into another floor length gown again, especially not after the fish incident. She had tripped up more times than she cared to remember.

River eyed them both a moment, before walking up to the console, "Are we going out?"

"Your parents are asleep," the Doctor told her as he turned to the controls, piloting them away. He winced a moment, remembering Amy and Rory weren't with them any longer, that they were home, probably were asleep now that he thought about it, and that both humans thought the Time Lords were dead.

"So…how's Stormcage?" the Professor asked, she'd been in her fair share of prisons over the years, half of them because of the Doctor, and it was always entertaining to compare notes.

"I'm on the first night of 24,000 consecutive life sentences," River shrugged, "Kind of early to say. Where are we going?"

"Calderon Beta."

"Boring," the Doctor told her, joining them again, "Planet of the chip shops, but…there is a 400 foot tree…"

"Growing out of a cliff top…"

"On the northern side of a mountain…"

"In the middle of the sea."

"And, if you take the lift to the top…"

"And look up at exactly 12 minutes past midnight…"

"On the 21st of September 2360…"

"You can see more stars in one sky than at any other moment in the history of the Universe."

The Doctor grinned, "It's like daylight, only magic. You could read a book by it!"

The Professor pulled a lever as River smiled, "I don't think I'll ever get used to that," she laughed at their explanation.

"We've got 10 minutes," the Professor checked the Doctor's watch quickly, "Get dressed."

"Did you bring the diary?" the Doctor asked, stopping River from leaving.

"It's a diary?" River asked, holding up the TARDIS shaped journal, walking back around the console to them.

"It is now," the Professor nodded, growing serious, "Because River from now on, there are rules…"

"Oh you've gone all strict," River remarked, flipping through the diary absently, "Not that I mind."

"River," the Doctor took over, "The three of us, it's all in the wrong order, we never meet in sequence. You put everything in the diary so we know where we are."

"Put what in the diary? Sweetie I'm in the highest security prison in all of the known Universe."

The Professor smirked, "River Song could walk in and out of that prison like the walls aren't there."

"I'm River Song sweetums," she rolled her eyes.

"Then you'll be fine," the Professor laughed, "If you don't like the dress, there's plenty more in the wardrobe."

"First right, second left, just past the helter-skelter," the Doctor called as she headed off down the stairs.

A moment later there was a thump against the main doors, followed by the sound of guns blasting away. The Doctor turned, only to see the Professor already halfway to the door and dashed after her. She threw the door open and another River, slightly older, nearly fell in from where she'd been trying to open the door.

"River!" the Doctor shouted, pulling her in as the Professor fired her blaster a few times out the door before slamming it shut and turning to help the Doctor.

"I knew you'd come back here," River panted, "You nostalgic idiots. Hold me!" and promptly fainted in their arms, the suddenness nearly taking the Professor down with her, but the Doctor had grabbed the woman as well.

"River!" he shouted as they looked at each other, "River! River! River!" he gently laid River down on the floor, "River? Are you ok?" he lifted one of her arms to check on her, "Talk to us…ok, um…uh…" he kept trying to check her over while the Professor just put a finger to the woman's neck, checking her pulse, scanning her, and smirked, sitting back cross-legged, her elbows on her knees, chin resting on her hands, to watch the Doctor frantically try to help. He kept leaning forward, listening for breathing, and looking River over, each time getting closer to her mouth as though trying to help without actually having to give her mouth-to-mouth, even in a life or death situation he didn't like the idea of touching his lips to anyone's but the Professor, "Breathe, breathe, come on," he leaned forward to listen for her breathing, "Gotta keep breathing…uh…" he actually seemed about to give her mouth-to-mouth when he looked up at the Professor, smirking at him, and realized, "River. You are holding your breath, aren't you?"

River opened her eyes and he jumped back, annoyed, "You're a fine one to talk about holding. How many hands do you two have?"

"Get up!" the Doctor leapt to his feet, a bit put out that they'd tricked him, but he should have known, River was  _far_  too much like the Professor with her teasing for his sanity to be safe.

"What are you doing here?" the Professor asked as she stood as well, the Doctor pulling a lever, sending them off once more, "Who's shooting at you?" she asked, pulling River up and examining her for injuries, "Whose ass must I kick?"

River laughed and linked an arm through the Professor's, the woman really took to her godmother duties, wanting to protect her and keep her safe, "Oh just a few Sontarans," she shrugged as the Doctor turned to them, "Chased me halfway across the galaxy."

"Impressive," the Professor had to admit.

"I probably shouldn't have asked them if they were on a hen night though…"

"River you can't do things like that!" the Doctor shouted.

River smirked, and there was her godfather, trying to be all strict and responsible…key word _trying_. It was such a role reversal from how the two normally were, the Professor keeping the Doctor safe and the Doctor rushing into danger headfirst. With her, the Professor was more the one to listen and enjoy her tales of her adventures, however ridiculous, stupid, or dangerous, while the Doctor chastised her for them.

"Or what?" she laughed, shaking her head, "You two've already had me banged up in jail for 5 years, what else are you gonna do?" she nudged the Professor, "Spank me?"

"Now…" the Doctor began.

The Professor laughed, "Oh he won't spank you but I sure as hell will whip you into shape."

"Beg your pardon?" River glanced down at herself, as though examining to see if she were truly  _that_  out of shape.

"We need to get you trained up a bit," she continued, "You'll need to know how to handle yourself if we aren't around to help. Remember, the methods I let Kovarian see left quite a lot to be desired."

River rolled her eyes, "What, are you going to turn into my personal drill sergeant now?"

The Professor smirked, wondering if  _this_  was where River got her nickname for her from. River turned to her about to speak when her gaze hardened, "Have you brought someone else here?" she asked them, walking towards the dress she'd just spotted. She spun around to them, annoyed, she didn't get to spend much time with just the two of them sans Companions and she was not about to let anyone cut into this, "Does  _anyone_  agree to wear that dress?" and then glared as she spun once more, "Where is she?"

The Doctor rubbed his face, "River think it through…"

She just ran up the stairs, turning to them as she reached the top, "This happened the last time we were here. You brought someone else!"

"No we didn't!"

River just ran off, "Yes you did! I heard you talking to her!"

"It's the same night!" the Professor told her.

The Stormcage River entered from the bottom of the stairs with a handful of clothes, "Professor!" they looked at her, "Doctor…were you talking to someone?"

"No, no, just us," the Doctor waved her off and she headed back down the stairs.

"Were you talking to someone?" Sontaran River strode in, hands on her hips.

"No, no, dear, just us," the Professor nearly laughed.

The woman just turned and left as the Doctor pondered the situation a moment. Suddenly the main door opened and another River, an older River, entered, actually wearing the metallic dress, "You nostalgic idiots…" she smiled at them fondly, "You just can't…" she frowned, spotting the dress, "Doctor? Professor…why have you brought another one of these?" she looked at them as they stared at her, "Who else is here?"

The Doctor glanced back the way Stormcage River had gone while the Professor looked to the staircase Sontaran River had escaped to, before they turned back to her, "River could you just check the light on top?" the Doctor asked her, "I think the bulb needs changing."

"The bulb?" she asked, hesitating, as she her eyebrows went up. But when the Professor nodded she turned and left to check.

"Who are you talking to?" Sontaran River asked as she walked back down the stairs and into the control room.

"You," the Doctor walked over to her, "We're talking to you," he took her wrist in his hand, "Back to Stormcage Dr. Song," and pulled out the sonic.

"I expect you to do 50 pushups," the Professor said as the Doctor soniced River's Vortex Manipulator, "100 crunches, and 75 squats to start…"

"Oh…" River mock whined.

"A day."

She sighed, "At least give me a lift. You know what this thing does to my hair!"

"It's always like that," the Doctor waved her off, dropping her arm as the Manipulator activated, sending her off in a crackle of light.

"The light's fine," they heard as the Dress River walked in, "I don't know what you're talking about…"

Suddenly another Doctor, dressed in a black suit and top hat ran in, "No River! Wrong TARDIS, the Professor's parked around back…" he smiled, pointing at the duo standing at the top of the stairs, "Younger versions."

River could only gape at them, wide eyed, "Two of you! The mind races, does it not?"

"Come on, we'll be late," he laughed.

"They're taking me to the Singing Towers of Darillium!" River told them as she turned to leave, "They've been promising for ages!"

The Doctor's smile faded as he looked at himself.

The Professor frowned, "The first time we met her at the Library, when she…"

"Died, yes," the older version nodded.

"She said the last time she saw us was at Darillium…is that now?" the Doctor asked.

"…spoilers," he sighed, trying to muster a smile, "Good luck tonight."

"You too," the Professor whispered, the information hitting her so much harder. She remembered what she was like to River in the Library, how they hadn't known her, hadn't trusted her. How the Doctor looked right through her while she treated the woman like the enemy...God how much that must have hurt River, to see them, her godparents, and have them treat her in such a way...and then for her to...

She swallowed hard and the Doctor put an arm around her waist, hugging her close, sensing her thoughts as he too recalled the event. He dropped a kiss to her temple in comfort.

"Yeah," the older version nodded, smiling just a bit as he watched them, they had each other to get through this, just like he had the Professor. He sighed and turned to leave.

But the Doctor called out, "Do we ever get her," he nodded at the Professor, "Into a dress like that?" he wasn't just trying to lighten the mood...he really wanted to know.

The older Doctor turned around and smirked, "She hasn't withheld anything from us lately," he laughed as his younger self blushed, "What do you think?"

He turned and walked out, a smile on his face, when Stormcage River walked in, an armful of clothes at hand, "Oh!" she gasped, seeing the older Doctor leave, "There's two of you! The mind races!"

"Well," the Professor shook her head and turned to her, taking the clothes from her, "Come on you, let's go and see the stars!"

"But I haven't changed!"

"And you never will," the Doctor smiled at her fondly, "Never ever."

"What was the other you doing here?"

"Sorry, can't say."

"What's that word you use?"

"Spoilers," the Professor called on the other side of the console.

"I like that word," she laughed.

"Knew you would."

River sighed but smiled as she looked at the two of them, "Oh Doctor, Professor…" she shook her head fondly, "You and your secrets, you'll be the death of me."

She walked past the Doctor to the Professor's side, watching her put in coordinates. The Professor looked up, offering the Doctor an understanding smile as he took a breath and moved to help her pilot.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a reason why the older Professor didn't join the older Doctor in stopping 'the Dress' River, can't say what it is yet, have to see how Series 7 goes :) I mean, it could be anything from she's preparing the TARDIS for their next adventure to the older Doctor did manage to get her into another floor length gown and she didn't want the younger versions to see (lest the 'younger' Doctor get any ideas) to anything really...but I know the real reason. Mu-wah-ha-ha...you'll definitely find out at some point in the coming stories though, probably when our Doctor/Professor get to that point, so don't worry :)
> 
> The whole godmother/godfather thing. I know River hasn't been romantic/flirty with the Doctor, but she also hasn't been hinting that they are family either. BUT, the River who meets them knows they don't know that they are family yet, and the River-who-was-Mels has only just met them and doesn't know they will be her family either. I figure if River can say what she says and act the way she does around her actual parents (not treating them like parents), then it wouldn't be too big a leap for her to act the way she has around her godparents too. Making references to screaming and dating things with swappable heads, etc :) lol, I'm hoping that there's an episode of the upcoming Series where River's got a boyfriend (even though in the show she's 'married') and Rory and the Doctor step up into overprotective father-like roles. That would be hysterical to write. I think the poor boy would fear for his life having the Oncoming Storm and the Last Centurion after him. Lol, that reminds me of a funny icon I saw once of Rory standing before the exploding Cyberships that said: The Doctor will make you wish you'd never laid eyes on him...piss Rory off and he'll make you wish you were dealing with the Doctor.
> 
> Those two people the Professor saw...just a hint, all history was happening at once, I made that the past, present, and future. They will pop up again, BUT I can't see it happening till WAY past the coming series, possibly in Series 9 or 10, I've got an idea of a sub-plot worked out for the next series, any specials they might make for the anniversary, and Series 8 too, so they'd only fit in after Series 8...but then again, idk how long Matt will be the 11th Doctor for past this upcoming Series and the Professor definitely won't let 11 leave without her putting up a fight and trying to follow, so...you never know, time might be rewritten for those two characters. However...if things go to plan and Moffat doesn't throw me any curveballs, you'll definitely discover who they are near the end of Series 8, I'm definitely not saying who they are now (spoilers!) :) I know, I'm terrible, it's so far away! But it'll definitely be worth it :)
> 
> Next chapter...GAME CHANGER! WOO! I really am SO excited to post it, even if it is the last chapter of Remembrance (NO!) but still...I am grinning just thinking about it.
> 
> I will say this...I've been dropping very subtle hints and throw-away lines/thoughts/noticings throughout this story about what the game changing decision might be about. I'm hoping that I've been being subtle and tricky enough where you wouldn't notice such lines reading it, but after you see the decision you'll be like 'OMG yes!' in thinking back to them.


	18. The Time Lords, the Widow, and the Wardrobe

"People of Earth you stand alone…" a voice announced over a loudspeaker when the Professor slammed her hand down on a button and explosions went off throughout the spaceship.

"Run!" the Doctor shouted, grabbing her hand and pulling her down the corridor as the ship was destroyed around them.

"Intruder alert!" blared over the speakers as they ran down the halls, just managing to keep ahead of the explosions, "Intruder alert! Intruder alert!"

The walls crumbled behind them, some of the rubble knocking into them as they ran. The Doctor stumbled and fell, the Professor grabbing him by his sleeve and hauling him back up as they kept on. They turned a corner, seeing a closed door near the end of the hall.

She reached out, snatching the sonic from him as they neared the door, aiming at it, opening it up as they dashed through. An explosion blasted behind them, the force pushing them through the open pathway. She ducked into a roll and shot up, flicking her arm back at the door, shutting it with the sonic before the fires of the explosion could reach it. She looked at him, lying on the ground, a moment before falling back herself, just a bit tired. That had been a hell of a run.

She felt someone take her hand and looked over to see him beside her, grinning, "Just like old times eh?"

She just rolled her eyes, "Have I mentioned yet, hate you?"

He laughed, kissing the back of her hand, "No you don't."

She took a breath, pushing herself up, pulling him up with her.

~8~

The Doctor was trying to crawl back onto the side of the ship, the walls blasted away, leaving only a platform, "Up!" the Professor shouted as she clung to his stomach, having gotten thrown out by the last blast, the Doctor just managed to grab her before he fell over as well.

He struggled to hold on but slid off, grabbing a thick wire dangling before him, holding onto it for dear life. He grunted a bit before spotting a spacesuit lying a few feet away on the deck beside him, "Come here spacesuit!" he reached out for it, wanting to get it so the Professor would be safe, "Come to Doctor!" he cried out in pain as an explosion blasted the suit away into space, the two of them along with it as they flew towards the Earth.

"Go!" the Professor shouted, untangling herself and pushing him towards the suit. She managed to twist herself, whipping out her blaster and aiming it at the ship, at the straps holding the other suits to the wall. She fired, the lingering effects of the blast shoving the suits towards them. She grabbed onto one and turned to see him moving to get into his own as she did the same.

~8~

' _Hang on!_ ' the Doctor called to the Professor in his mind as the ground rapidly approached.

' _Brace yourself!_ ' she agreed as they both raced towards it, landing with an almighty BOOM!

The Doctor groaned to himself as he tried to move, lying face down on the ground, unable to see, or really move. Who knew hitting the Earth with such force would hurt so much?

"Hello?" he heard a feminine voice call, "Hello!" it was getting closer, "Hello are you alright?" he could only groan, "Are you hurt? Did you fall? Where did you fall from?"

"Helmet…" he ground out.

"Oh, alright…just…just let me…" he felt someone kneel beside him, "Oh I don't want to hurt you," he then felt and heard the visors lifting up, "Oh!"

"I can't see!" he cried, opening his eyes, only to see darkness, "I'm blind!"

"Oh, no," he heard someone else laugh, someone who sounded distinctly like the Professor, "You've just got your helmet on backwards!"

"How did he manage that?" the woman who had found him looked up to see another person in a spacesuit sitting on the edge of the crater that had formed around the Doctor. She seemed in far better condition than he was, her visor down though.

"He got dressed in a hurry," the Professor replied with a laugh, "As did I, though women always seem far better at multitasking don't we dear?"

"Oh shut up," he moaned, struggling to get up.

She just got up and joined the woman in the crater, leaning over to help him up along with the woman, "My visor got jammed though so there's a point to you," she told him, "But my suit's on the right way around."

"How'd you manage that?" he asked, repeating what the woman had said about him.

"You wouldn't believe the situations the Time Lords thought we'd find ourselves in," she remarked and he could feel her shrug before she turned to the woman, "Would you be able to help us ma'am?"

"Um, with what?" the woman eyed her curiously.

"Finding a police telephone box if you could."

The woman nodded a bit, "Alright then…"

~8~

The woman drove them down the lane, quite jerkily, as the Doctor sat beside her, the Professor sitting behind them.

' _I didn't think it was possible,_ ' she remarked to him silently.

' _What?_ '

' _There's actually a worse driver out there than you,_ ' she laughed as she knew he'd just stuck his tongue out at her.

The car suddenly jerked to a stop, off to the side of the street, "Ow!" the Doctor moaned as he jolted, still pained from his landing…according to the Professor, landing on one's stomach was not the proper position to minimize impact damage, curling into a ball was the best form for it, "Oh…did we just bump into something?"

"No, no," the woman waved him off.

"We did seem to bump into quite a lot of things, didn't we?" the Professor asked, reaching out to put a hand on the Doctor's helmet as he put his own hand to his head.

"Well a lot of things get in the way it's hardly my fault," the woman turned off the car and got out, "You two need to take those silly things off."

"Can't!" the Professor called, jumping out of the back of the car, "Impact suits are still repairing us."

The woman eyed her a moment as she moved to open the Doctor's door, "Repairing you?"

The Doctor groaned, "Yeah, well, you know…" the Professor reached out and helped him out of the car, "That's the idea!"

The woman reached out, helping to steady the Doctor, "Won't it repair you back to front?"

The Doctor comically checked both his front and back, "No! No."

"Well that's good…" and then he walked into a street lamp, "Oh!" the woman pulled him back.

"That's a street lamp dear," the Professor patted his shoulder.

"Yes, I got that impression," he remarked.

"Round this way," the woman tugged him to the side around the lamp and over to the blue police telephone box, though the Doctor swung his arms out to avoid another mishap, "Don't you want me to take you to hospital or something? Or you're welcome to come to our house."

"No, no, no, we're fine. I just need to find…" he started to pat himself, checking for a way into the suit, "The um…the key…"

"Impact suit," the Professor reminded him, walking to the side of the box and running her hand along it, having been able to remove her gloves a while ago.

"Oh, do you want me to do it with a pin?" the woman pulled one out of her hair, "I'm good with a pin," before she turned to try and pick the lock.

"Multi-dimensional triple encoded temporal interface," the Doctor replied, "Not really susceptible to pointy things…" he moved to lean against the box but fell past it into the Professor.

"Got it!" there was a click as the door opened.

"Ok…suddenly the last 900 years of time travel seem a bit less secure…"

"1100 years dear," the Professor reminded him once more, straightening him.

"Right, yes," he suddenly turned and stuck out his hand to the woman, "Thank you for taking care of us," she moved around his hand to take it, "You didn't have to you know, you've been very kind."

"Oh don't be silly," the woman smiled, "It's Christmas Eve. No one should be alone at Christmas."

"What did you say your name was?"

"Madge. Madge Arwell."

"Thank you as well," the Professor moved to shake her hand too, "If there's ever anything that we can do for you, let us know."

"How?"

"Don't know!" the Doctor cheered, "Make a wish, that usually works."

"Does it?"

"Well it did for me, you're here, aren't you?" he laughed, "Well, don't wait around here. Just…off you go home, we'll just go and uh," he stuck out his hands, trying to feel around when the Professor grabbed his wrist and placed it on the door handle, "And wait inside here," he opened the door and stepped in…only to realize two things, the Professor hadn't followed and this wasn't the TARDIS. He turned and threw open the doors once more, "Wrong one. Do you think we can try again?"

"Um, yes of course!" Madge nodded, walking back to the car as the Professor helped him out of the box.

' _You knew it wasn't the TARDIS, didn't you?_ ' he asked her quietly.

' _Of course!_ ' she'd sensed as much.

' _Why didn't you warn me?_ '

He could almost hear the smirk in her thoughts, ' _I love seeing you in these situations._ '

He could only shake his head at her, draping his arm around her shoulders as they walked towards the car.

~8~

"Doctor!" the Professor shouted through the manor house, hearing someone knocking on the main door.

"What?" he called back from another room.

"Get the door!"

"Mr. Cardew!" she heard someone calling.

"I think the Arwells are here!"

"Oh yes!" she heard a door open as he made his way to the front, "Right on time!"

"I'll be there in a mo!" she told him.

The Doctor nodded as he walked through the doorway to the main foyer, hearing two children shout, "Father!" from outside, hearing the door shut as well.

"Sorry!" he called out, making his way to the door, trying to open it, "It's the door!" he put his foot on the other door and pulled, "It's developed a fault…" he grunted a bit.

"Oh hello!" he could hear Madge shout, "Mr. Cardew?"

He jumped to the side as the door started to fall back completely, landing with a thump on the floor. He eyed it a moment, wincing at the thought of the Professor finding it, before shaking his head and stepping into the doorway, "Here we go!" he grinned at the family, "Well, come in! In you come," he stepped aside as they entered, "Mind your step now, don't worry the back door is still broadly speaking operational…"

"And  _that_  is thanks to me," the Professor said, walking in with a tool belt around her waist, a small amount of tools attached to it with a hardhat on her head, "Because I literally dragged you away from it before you could try to make it automatic," she came to a stop before the front door and looked down at it, "You broke it again, didn't you?" she turned to the Doctor, "It's like the toaster all over again!"

"No, no," he said quickly, watching as she squatted down and lifted the door back up into its place, "It just developed a fault. All on its own. No help from me."

She turned to him, pressing her back to the door to keep it up, "So then exactly like the toaster is it?"

"Yes."

She shook her head and spotted the Arwells standing there, "Oh, don't worry about this," she smiled, pointing her thumb back at the door as she stepped away from it to shake their hands, "I'll have it all fixed up right in time for Christmas."

"Right then," the Doctor nodded, seeing that matter all cleared up, "May I take your cases?"

"Thank you," Madge put her case down, followed by her children, Lily and Cyril.

"Lovely, would you mind carrying them for me," he stepped over them towards the stairs as the Professor just rolled her eyes at him, "We need to show you around."

"Oh no wait!" Madge called. The Doctor stopped and turned around, already halfway up the stairs, "Who are you?" she looked between both of them, "Who are both of you?"

"I'm the caretaker," the Doctor replied, "And she's the…housekeeper?" he looked at the Professor who just shrugged.

"But you're not Mr. Cardew…" Madge eyed him.

"…I agree."

"But then I don't understand are you the  _new_ caretaker?"

He simply started walking back down the stairs, "Usually called the Doctor, or the caretaker, or get off this planet…"

"Strictly speaking that last one isn't a name," the Professor remarked.

He just waved her off, reaching out to shake Madge's hand, "Hello Madge Arwell."

"…hello," she hesitantly shook his hand in return.

"Cyril Arwell!" he turned to Cyril and shook his hand, then his sister's, "And Lily Arwell. Now, come on. Come on," he turned, taking the Professor's hand and tucking it under his arm, scooping the hardhat off her head as he tugged her with him, "Lots to see. Whistles stop tour, take notes there will be questions."

~8~

The Doctor pushed open the doors to a fairly large sitting room, sunlight shining through the windows, "Tour of sitting room. Just chairs, bit pointless without a television so I made some repairs…" he leaned back into the hall and hit a switch. Suddenly the chairs started to wheel themselves around the room in a sort of dance as the children looked on in amazement, "I know…"

The Professor leaned forward to whisper to them, "He wanted to race the chairs…but failed to put in any brakes, be thankful I managed to rewire them for dancing."

The children giggled.

~8~

Next he led them through the kitchen, "Kitchen! That's a cooker probably…" he pointed to a random appliance near the back of the room.

"Yes, definitely a cooker," the Professor made a show of looking around, "Yet no toaster…" she turned her amused gaze on the Doctor, "I wonder why?"

He just turned and quickly tapped the set of taps by the sink, "And these are taps hot, cold, lemonade…"

"Lemonade?" Cyril eyed a large tap.

"I know!" the Doctor grinned.

~8~

The Doctor moved to step onto the stairs but let his foot fall back when the stairs remained stationary, "Staircase…" the others stopped behind him, "Seems to have broken down…" he turned to them sadly, "We'll have to  _walk_  up…"

The Professor just rolled her eyes and stepped past him, snatching the sonic right out of his pocket and disappeared behind the side of the stairs. There was a small whirring noise before she called out, "Got it!"

He beamed as the stairs proceeded to move on their own and hopped on, riding them up to the top as the family stared at it in shock, "Well, come on!" he called, "More to see!"

~8~

"We sleep up there," the Professor pointed to a small doorway at the end of the upstairs hall with a set of stairs through it.

"Stay away," the Doctor warned them, "Beware of panthers."

"Panthers?" Madge gasped.

"They're terrifying. Have you never seen panthers?"

"Cyril!" the Professor called as the boy stopped to try and look up the stairs. He turned and rushed after them.

~8~

The Doctor opened the door to a beautiful room, decorated in light blues and golds, "Mum's room! Grown up. Your basic boring…" he shut the door before Madge could really see it.

She sighed and the Professor came over, "Don't worry Madge, I managed to keep him  _out_  of this room."

"How?" she looked up at her as the Doctor led them on.

The Professor just grinned, "I dragged him to our room of course."

Madge's eyes widened and she blushed at the implication. The Professor just laughed and led her after the Doctor.

~8~

The Professor pushed the last door open to reveal a wonderful children's room, full of toys, planet displays, jungle themes, and more, "Lily and Cyril's room!" she announced with a sheepish smile, "Sorry," she told Madge before sending the Doctor a mock angry look, "HE distracted  _me_  on this one."

The Doctor just grinned and pointed at her before walking past her to stand in the middle of the room, "I'm going to be honest, masterpiece, the ultimate bedroom," and then he started running around, pointing out all the different things he'd included, "A sciencey wiencey workbench, a jungle, a maze, a window disguised as a mirror, a mirror disguised as a window! Selection of torches for midnight feasts and secret readings. Zen garden, mysterious cupboard, zone of tranquility. Rubber wall, dream tank. Exact model of the rest of the house, not quite to scale, apologies. Dolls, with comical expressions! The Magna Carta, a foot spa, Cluedo **,** a yellow fort…"

"Where are the beds?" Cyril managed to get in.

"Well I couldn't fit everything in," the Doctor defended, "I'm not her you know," he pointed at the Professor, "There had to be sacrifices. Anyway," he ran to the door, "Who needs beds when you've got…" he pulled a lever and two hammocks fell from the ceiling, "Hammocks!" he grinned at their shocked faces, "I know."

"Had to rewire that after he finished," the Professor sighed, "Originally that lever turned the lights on downstairs."

Cyril walked forward and tried to get on the hammock nearest the door, "But how do you get on?"

"Watch and learn kid," the Doctor motioned him away. Cyril backed up and the Doctor leapt at the hammocks, landing in between them as he missed.

"For God's sake!" Madge cried.

He popped up, "This hammock has developed a fault."

"Has it?" the Professor wondered, before running. He ducked down as she jumped over him, managing to land perfectly on the second hammock.

"Yeah, well…shut up."

"Both of you shut up!" Madge snapped, "Can you please  _stop_  talking?" the Doctor and Professor looked at her a moment, that was not like the woman they remembered, "Can you please just…stop?"

"Sorry," the Doctor muttered.

"Children go downstairs."

"Why?" Lily asked.

"We leaving?" Cyril pouted.

"Yes," Madge winced, "No. I don't know, just please…go downstairs!"

Lily frowned as she turned to lead Cyril out, "You don't need to shout."

Madge looked down, waiting till they had gone before she turned to the Doctor and Professor as they stood up, "Why are you doing all this?"

"We're just…" the Professor began.

"Trying to take care of things, keep the house," the Doctor cut in, "I'm the caretaker, she's the housekeeper."

"That's not what caretakers or housekeepers do," Madge shook her head.

"Then why are they called caretakers and housekeepers?"

Madge sighed, "Their father's dead."

The Professor blinked, "I'm sorry."

"Lily and Cyril's father, my husband, is dead and they don't know yet because if I tell them now then Christmas will always be what took their father away from them and no one should have to live like that. Of course, when the Christmas period is over I shall …" she drooped a bit, "I don't know why I keep shouting at them."

"Because every time you see them happy you remember how sad they're going to be and it breaks your heart," the Doctor said simply.

"Mother come and see!" Lily shouted from somewhere in the house.

"Mother, you've got to see this!" Cyril joined her, "Come on!"

"Because what's the point in them being happy now if they're going to be sad later," the Professor looked down, recalling exactly how that felt.

"Mother!" Cyril shouted.

"Mother!" Lily yelled, "Are you coming?"

"The answer is, of course," the Doctor said, taking the Professor's hand, "Because they _are_  going to be sad later."

The Professor looked up at him with a small smile, squeezing his hand before she led him around the hammocks towards Madge, "We better get downstairs, I think they may have found the main sitting room."

"Mother!" Cyril called again.

"I repaired it," the Doctor whispered conspiratorially.

Madge gave them both an odd look before she walked out of the room. The Doctor hesitated a moment before the Professor squeezed his hand again. Both could empathize with the woman, for vastly different reasons. He smiled, stepping out of the room with her and walking with her down the stairs after Madge.

They smiled as they watched Madge enter the sitting room where a large tree was set up in the back, decorated in every sort of material, streamers hanging from the walls around it, toy rockets whizzing around it, a train circling below it, and, of course, a large blue present box with a white bow set right beside it.

The children turned to them, eyes wide, "I know," he grinned.

"Look at that present!" Cyril cried, running over to it, squinting as he read the tag, "It's for me."

"It says to all of us," Lily corrected.

"I'm youngest, I get to open it first."

"It doesn't say who it's from," Lily frowned. The Doctor and Professor glanced at each other, "Mother who left this here?" and slipped out of the room just as Madge turned to them. There was still work to be done.

~8~

They sat at a small table in the attic room, their 'room' as they'd claimed. There was a mess of wires on the table, the two of them working at repairing them while the TARDIS sat behind them. The sonic whirred while the Professor worked on reconnecting a few wires, making electrical crackling resound around her.

They looked up when they heard the door creak open to see Lily enter, "You were lying about the panthers," the girl remarked, crossing her arms.

"Famous last words," the Doctor grinned.

One of the wires the Professor crossed sparked, making him flinch, "Sorry," she smiled at him apologetically.

"Why have you got a phone box in your room?" Lily asked, eyeing the TARDIS.

There was another spark as the Doctor replied, "It's not a phone box it's our…wardrobe. I've just painted it to look like a phone box."

"Well, what are you doing?"

"Rewiring," the Professor said, holding up a handful of wires as though the answer had been obvious.

"Why would you rewire a wardrobe?"

The Professor snorted a bit, "Have you seen the way he dresses?"

"Oi!" the Doctor mock glared at her but Lily just smiled.

"Who are you?" Lily walked closer, "Really, who are you?"

The Professor frowned, looking at the wires as they beeped in her hands, "Your brother, where is he?"

"Asleep."

The Professor eyed her, "And you're sure?"

Lily rolled her eyes and turned, heading out of the room. The Doctor looked over at her and she held up the wires she'd just mended for him to see why she'd asked.

"Still in bed," Lily called, entering, "Asleep."

"Ok," the Doctor nodded, "Faulty then."

The Professor shook her head though, "They're not faulty. I know."

Lily frowned, "How do you know?"

"I fused these wires myself. Perfectly I'll have you know. Him," she jerked her head towards the Doctor, "On the other hand…it's more likely he'd rewire the house and have the doorbell ring when the upstairs toilet is used."

"That only happened once!" he shouted. The wires beeped again and she held them up as though to prove a point. He eyed them a moment before looking at Lily, "You're  _sure_  he's still in bed?"

The Professor shook her head and stood, "Only one way to find out."

The Doctor stood as well, taking her hand in his as they headed down the steps with Lily, quietly making their way over to the bedroom door. He pushed it open slowly to see what appeared to be someone sleeping in Cyril's hammock.

"See," Lily whispered.

"He's not there," the Professor said.

"What?"

"He's not breathing," she explained, walking over to the hammock. She pulled the covers down to reveal a mess of teddy bears lumped in the shape of someone sleeping.

"Oh, he's good," the Doctor remarked, "The old bear and duvet, eh? Classic."

Lily jumped back as the two raced out of the room before following them down the stairs as they ran for the sitting room. They turned the corner just in time to see Cyril's hand reach out of the now opened present box and grab a torch sitting just outside it, "Cyril!" the Doctor shouted as they ran to the box.

The Professor quickly dropped to a crawl and rushed through, the Doctor after her.

"What's happening?" Lily shouted as they both managed to fit in the box, "I don't…what is that?"

"With us!" the Doctor reached out a hand and took hers, "Quickly! Come on!" he pulled her into the box, half carrying her out the other end and into a white, snow covered forest, "In you come," he set her down, shivering a bit, "Bit cold…"

"Never mind the cold," the Professor called, "Cyril!"

He turned around, rushing to the Professor's side as they tried to find him. He pulled out a torch of his own, tossing it to her while he took the sonic for himself, using it as a torch as well as scanning, "Cyril!" he shouted.

"Doctor," the Professor called, spotting a large, silver, egg-like thing lying in the snow by one of the trees. He moved over to it and crouched down, scanning it.

"Where are we?" Lily breathed.

"In a forest, in a box, in a sitting room," the Doctor replied, glancing at her, "Pay attention."

The Professor stood, looking around, "He's about 20 minutes ahead of us."

"But we just saw him!" Lily exclaimed.

"Time moves differently across the dimensional planes," she explained as she disappeared through the trees.

"What do they teach you in schools these days?" the Doctor asked, standing up as well.

"But…I don't understand...where we are?" Lily shook her head.

"Well we've gone through a dimensional portal…thingy…"

"Well, what's that supposed to be? Where did it come from?"

"It was a present and it wasn't supposed to be opened until Christmas Day. Honestly, who opens their Christmas presents early?"

"You do," the Professor said, walking back through the trees.

He turned to her, "I do not!"

She just gave him a look, "In the 390 years I spent with you in the Academy you  _always_  tried to sneak a peek at your presents early. And then, when I hid them, you found them, and when I hid them better, you created a new app for the sonic so you could find them, and THEN I had to resort to making them out of wood just to throw you off!"

He winced a bit, recalling that, when they'd first met, he'd just learned about the Earth, about the humans and had been extolling them to her. After he'd given her a teddy bear for Christmas, she'd returned the favor by giving him an Earth chess set a few days later, having not expected a gift in the first place. Ever since then they'd both decided that Earth would forever be their favorite planet and, in the spirit of that, to observe some of its traditions, Christmas being one of them, "Yes…yes, alright, everyone does…shut up…"

The Professor just shook her head at him and turned back, walking through the trees, the Doctor following, Lily right behind him.

"I don't understand, is this place real?" Lily asked after a moment of just taking in the land around them, "Or is it Fairy Land?"

"Fairy Land?" he scoffed, "Oh grow up Lily! Fairy Land looks completely different."

The Professor knelt down in the snow, shining her light on a set of prints, "Look," she called, "These are Cyril's footprints…" and then she moved her light to the second set, "And these are the ones he was following. Notice anything."

"The other footprints are getting bigger," Lily replied.

"Yes. Whatever your brother's following, it's growing."

"Well then we have to get after him!" Lily jumped up and ran off, knocking some snow off a tree as she passed. She looked back to see if they were coming, only to see the tree literally grow what looked like a bauble, a silver orb dangling from an ice drop.

"It's ok," the Doctor reassured her as he stood, walking over to her, "You're fine. Don't worry."

"Is that tree alive?"

"Of course it's alive, it's a tree."

"But is it dangerous?"

"Every rose has its thorns," the Professor remarked, getting up as well, walking over to examine it.

Lily reached for one, leaning over like the Doctor to look at it, "They're like Christmas Tree decorations."

The Doctor grinned, "Yeah! Naturally occurring Christmas Trees!" he inhaled the tip of a branch deeply, before turning to the Professor, "Oh how cool is that!" she just laughed and wiped the bit of snow off the tip of his nose before dropping a kiss to it.

"I don't understand."

"It's a big Universe Lily," the Professor explained, "Everything happens somewhere."

"Call it a coincidence," the Doctor added, "Call it an idea echoing among the stars. Personally I call it a brilliant idea for a Christmas trip or it…should have been…" he trailed off, seeing the Professor stiffen and look up at the trees, listening as he too heard the whispering around them.

"Do you know the difference between wind and trees talking to each other Lily?" the Professor asked.

"What?" Lily frowned.

The Doctor however just licked his finger and held it up, feeling for the wind, "No wind," he breathed, looking at the Professor as she nodded.

"We've been here many times but we've  _never_  heard the trees so active," the Professor frowned, "Something's wrong…"

The Doctor turned slowly, listening hard, "What are you doing?" he asked the trees, "What are you up to?" he leaned down and looked at the bauble, seeing his reflection turn into a wooden man in a wooden crown, before jerking back. He looked at the Professor, alarmed, as she took out her blaster, readying it in case, "We're sorry Lily, we really are," he reached back, taking the girl's hand.

"Why?" Lily frowned, growing uneasy.

"Because there is something very wrong in this forest," the Professor answered, "And your brother's right in the middle of it," Lily's eyes widened in fear, "Let's move," she nodded at the Doctor, taking the lead through the trees once more.

"Why would you bring us to this place?" Lily asked as she rushed with the Doctor after her.

"Well, it was supposed to be a treat," the Doctor replied, "This is one of the safest planets I know. There's never anything dangerous here…"

There was a loud thump in the distance that shook the ground. Lily looked at him.

The Professor sighed, "There are sentences you should just keep away from dear," she remarked, pressing on quickly.

Lily shook her head, "It's just irresponsible. How can you do this to my brother?"

"It was meant to be a supervised trip," he repeated.

"What do the future?"

"The future yes."

"The future on a different planet?"

"Oh yes, very different."

"Where Christmas Trees just happen?"

"Well, sort of Christmas Trees…"

"They're not really Christmas Trees," the Professor told her as she pressed through another set of trees, coming to the base of a large tower in the middle of the forest.

"Oh, look at that!" the Doctor stopped, looking up at it, impressed. It was very large, with a sphere on top of it made out of a number of white colored, glass triangles.

"No time!" the Professor reminded him, running towards the tower.

"What, are we going in?" Lily called.

"Cyril did," she reasoned, pushing the door open.

They entered, stopping a moment as they looked around. There was a large wooden man in a wooden crown sitting in a chair before them at its base. The tower was empty, save for him and a spiral staircase pressed against the wall, heading up the length of the tower.

"Interesting," the Doctor remarked, seeing the wooden man.

"What's that?" Lily pointed at it, walking closer while they looked around, "That statue, what is it? It's like a king."

"A king possibly," the Doctor agreed, turning the sonic on it.

"But not a statue," the Professor said, having run her finger along its shoulder as she passed it. She turned, pointing her light to the prints on the floor, "This is what Cyril was following, the growing thing," she showed them how the prints led right up to the statue.

"Hatched from the bauble on a tree, grew to this size in…less than an hour I'd say," the Doctor checked his watch and whistled, "Impressive."

The Professor nodded, "And so is this building," she walked over to one of the walls and rested a hand on it, "Yes, grown see."

The Doctor walked over and inspected the wall as well, seeing what she had, "This building...it isn't a building, it's a group of trees grown in the shape of a building, disguised as a building. Oh…clever. I love clever. Clever old forest," he looked up a moment, "So a forest grows a building, why would it do that Lily?"

"I don't know," she shrugged.

"Why is there honey in a honey trap?" the Professor countered.

"Because it's a trap?"

"Exactly."

"Thing about people, we can never resist a door…" the Doctor continued.

"So this is a trap?" Lily's eye widened, "We've just walked straight into a trap?"

"A people trap."

"The question is…" the Professor said slowly, turning to look at the king, "Why does a forest need people?"

"We should go," Lily said, scared, "We have to get out of here."

"Except…"

She let out a breath, "Except Cyril's here."

The Doctor reached over and took her hand again, "So let's find Cyril," he looked up at the stairs before turning to the Professor. She nodded and started up them, the two behind her.

He really did hate that she often took the lead in potentially dangerous situations, but she refused to let him do it…claimed she actually felt  _safer_  taking the lead. He doubted it was that, believing it was more the fact that she felt she had the skills to protect whoever was behind her if she went first. And he couldn't really argue with that. She had near perfect aim, better reflexes, and far better instincts than he did due to her training. She could handle herself and whatever was thrown at them, a small comfort in allowing her to step first into danger, but a comfort nonetheless.

She slowed down when they reached a door at the top of the stairs and put her blaster back, walking over to it, "Cyril!" she called, the Doctor walking beside her and trying the sonic on the door, "Cyril! Can you hear me?"

"Cyril?" the Doctor tried, "Cyril? Cyril? Can you hear us?"

"It's wood dear," the Professor reminded him as he tried the sonic on what looked like a lock.

"Oh, of course," he grumbled, "It's rubbish at wood."

"It doesn't look like wood…" Lily remarked.

"It's disguised wood. Have you been listening?" he tried the sonic again on another setting.

"How can trees grow into a building?"

"Oh never underestimate a tree Lily," the Doctor walked past her, fiddling with the sonic, "I met the Forest of Cheem once who fancied me."

The Professor blinked and turned to him, "And when was this?"

He stiffened, looking back at her and offered a small smile, "I love you?"

She just rolled her eyes at him.

Lily turned and looked out the window, "Look at that…" she breathed.

"Busy actually," he fiddled again with the sonic, "Yes, I know it's wood, get over it!"

"There are stars. There are stars coming out."

"Yes that does happen Lily…"

"Cyril!" the Professor tried again, but there was no response. She pushed lightly against the door, testing its strength.

"Yes, but out of the trees," Lily told them. They both looked up at that before walking over to the window she was looking out of to see stars floating just above the trees, hovering there, "What is that?"

"Life force," the Professor smiled a bit at the sight, "Pure life force."

"Beautiful. Doesn't it make you want to cry?"

"Crying when you're happy," the Doctor shook his head, thoughtful, "Good for you," he put his hands on her shoulder, "That's  _so_  human."

There was a whoosh behind them and a golden light started to shine under the door, "What's that? What is it?" they ran over, "Tell me what!"

"Cyril!" the Doctor banged against the door, "Cyril can you hear me?"

A moment later a thumping noise reached them from below.

They stopped, stilling, before they caught sight of the wooden king making his way to the stairs, "Oh my God," Lily breathed, "Oh my God…" the Doctor turned back to the door as the Professor moved past Lily to look over the railing, watching the king, "Caretaker it's coming!" Lily gasped as he struggled with the door, "Open it!"

"I'm trying!"

"Open it!"

"I'm trying!"

"Oh move over!" the Professor shouted. The Doctor jumped back and the Professor strode forward, effectively kicking the door down.

The Doctor whistled as Lily looked impressed, "Never gets old, does it?" he asked her.

"Not yet," she remarked, hurrying through the door. They entered the room to see Cyril sitting on a throne-like chair, much like the one at the bottom of the tower, another statue, a woman in a crown, standing behind him.

Lily ran over to her brother, kneeling before him to see him sitting with his eyes closed, a small band around his head, "Cyril! What's wrong with him?" she looked up at the Professor as she put a finger to Cyril's neck, "Housekeeper, is he dead?"

"It's ok," she reassured the girl, "He's just unconscious."

"What are you then?" the Doctor stood, eyeing the second statue, "Not a king…queen! The queen bee of the forest."

Lily looked over her shoulder, spotting something through one of the clear windows, "Look!"

"It looks like…" the Doctor frowned as he and the Professor stepped closer, seeing the stars starting to head towards the tower.

"Like what?"

"Like the life force is leaving the forest…"

"It's an evacuation," the Professor nodded.

Suddenly there were thumps behind them.

They spun around to see the king had reached them and was walking towards Cyril, "What is he doing?" Lily gasped, "Stop him!"

The Doctor pulled out the sonic, flashing them both repeatedly, "Oh, aliens made of wood!" he growled at the sonic, "This was always going to happen, you know!" he tried to flash them again when a flash of light shot from beside him, striking the ground before the statues.

They froze.

He looked over at the Professor to see her holding her blaster out, "Wood plus oxygen plus a spark," she replied, "Equals fire," he nodded, realizing the wooden statues  _would_  be afraid of such a thing. The Professor eyed the statues a moment longer as they turned to look at Cyril before frowning, "I think they may want to talk to us."

The band on Cyril's head began to glow and he woke up, "They're scared," he breathed, as Lily cautiously knelt before him again, "Can't you hear them? The trees are screaming, can't you hear?"

The Doctor scanned the band quickly with the sonic, "No, but you can. You're connected to them."

"Why have the stars left the trees?" Lily frowned.

"I think they're…" Cyril frowned.

"Just concentrate," the Professor told him, moving to kneel beside Lily, keeping the statues in sight, "What are they doing?"

"Evacuating," he said, repeating her words, "They're evacuating."

"Knew it," she muttered, getting up to go look through the window again, up at the sky.

"Why?" the Doctor frowned.

"'Cos they're frightened of the rain," Cyril explained, "The rain that burns."

"Caretaker please explain," Lily looked at him, "I'm frightened."

"Those stars…" he began, moving her to the window with the Professor, "They're pure life force. Souls if you like. And they're trying to escape. Because they think their home is going to burn."

"Why can't they just float up into the sky?"

"They need to travel inside a living thing," the Professor replied, "Inside Cyril. That band on his head," she turned, "It's not a crown, it's a relay. They're turning your brother into a life boat."

The Doctor looked around, nodding, "That's what this place is for then. It's an escape plan, is that it?" the queen leaned forward and reached for Cyril, "Don't you harm him, do not touch that child!"

"Your coming was foretold," Cyril's voice deepened as the band began to blaze gold.

"Oh my God, what is that?" Lily eyed her brother in fear, "Why does he sound like that?"

"Oh hello, are we lip syncing now?" the Doctor asked the queen.

"We had faith," she spoke through Cyril, "Your coming was foretold."

The Professor shook her head, "There's no such thing as foretelling."

The Doctor nodded, walking around the statues, "Trust a time traveler."

"We waited," it said, "And you came."

"So!" he eyed them, moving to stand before them again, "You've got an escape plan, why aren't you escaping?"

"The child is weak."

The Professor frowned, "You mean he's a child?"

"No! He is weak! The forest cannot live in him. But there are others."

"There certainly are and the good thing is I look great in a hat," the Doctor nodded, kneeling before Cyril, "So…let's get this thing off eh?"

"You are also weak."

The Doctor simply reached for the band, "I'm really not. Let's save a forest, eh Cyril?"

"You are not the one. You are weak."

"I'm really not!" he grabbed the band and it blazed in his hands, hurting him, he cried out in pain, stumbling back, struggling to hold on.

"Let go of it!" Lily shouted as the Professor turned her gun on the statues in case they had a hand in that, "Just let go! Let go of it! Let go! Please just drop it!"

"I can't!"

Lily ran forward and grabbed the band out of his hands. The glow faded, "Oh…it's funny isn't it…" she smiled at it, "It's sort of…tingly…"

The Doctor looked up, panting, " _Tingly?_ "

The queen suddenly moved and put a hand on Lily's shoulder, using her to speak, "She is strong but she is young," Lily gasped and dropped the band, moving away from the statue.

The Professor watched as the band rolled off, before moving to get it, "She's strong, I'm weak?" the Doctor asked, standing, "Interesting…" he looked up at the sound of metal scraping to see the Professor walking back over to them, spinning the band on her finger.

"It could be me," she remarked, before holding it out to the queen who took it back, "But I'm not strong enough."

He frowned, "You're the strongest person I know."

She smiled at him, "There are others who are stronger."

"Mummy?" Cyril called, snapping out of his daze.

Lily eyed the statues warily before rushing to kneel before her brother, "Cyril it's alright. It's me. Mummy isn't here but we're going home to her right now, aren't we caretaker? Housekeeper?"

The Doctor opened his mouth to speak when the Professor beat him to it, "No," she whispered. He looked over to see her staring up at the rain now pouring down onto the sphere, "I don't think we are," she looked at him sadly, "The rain that burns…acid rain…"

His eyes widened, "We have to get out of this forest. We're in terrible danger. This tower won't protect us for long."

"Where's mummy?" Cyril asked.

"She's coming," Lily tried to calm him, "You know she's coming because she always comes. Doesn't she?"

The Doctor looked at the Professor who could only shake her head before she moved to the children, "Cyril…" he looked up, "The way we came here, that door, won't stay open forever. Now it'll be hard enough getting you two out of here and through the rain safely, but if we're going to have any chance at all, we have to go now."

Cyril crossed his arms, "No. We wait for mummy. Mummy always comes."

The Doctor shook his head, joining the Professor, "Not this time Cyril. I'm sorry but not this time…" he trailed off, hearing another, much larger, set of thumping. They turned slowly to see a large machine with three mechanical legs appear above the treetops, walking towards them.

"What's that?" Lily asked as the two ran to the window.

"It's an Androzani Harvester!" the Professor's eyes widened.

"Do you recognize that thing?"

"More to the point…" the Doctor grinned, "I think I recognize the driving!" they could see Madge sitting in the main pilot's chair, moving the harvester onwards, "Madge has entered the forest! Come on Madge! You can do it! You go girl!"

"Shut up you ridiculous oaf!" Madge shouted over the comms..

"Come on! This way, whoa! You can do it! You can do it! Excellent driving!"

The Professor snorted, he  _would_  think that was excellent driving.

"Caretaker?" Madge called, "Housekeeper?"

"Yes!" he grinned.

"You're fired!"

"Oh…" his grin fell…and then…so did Madge's harvester, "It's ok," he told the kids quickly, "She's fine. Don't worry," he kissed them on their heads, "Stay here! Professor, watch them!" he shouted as he ran out of the room. He dashed down the stairs, "Madge! Madge!" and at the bottom she ran in, her jacket smoking, with holes in it, "You ok?"

She threw back her hood, relatively unharmed, "Stay inside, the rain is frightful! Lily! Cyril!" she turned and ran up the stairs as the Doctor turned and looked outside.

~8~

"Cyril!" Madge shouted as she ran into the room and over to her children.

"Mum!" Cyril grinned.

"Lily!" Madge pulled her children into a hug as the Professor stepped back, watching as the statues turned to look at Madge, "What are you doing?" she pulled away, "How dare you leave the house? Cyril what have I told you about opening your presents early?"

"Sorry mummy," he bowed his head.

"Something like this was bound to happen," Lily gasped and Madge spun around, watching as the statues approached her, "What are those?"

"Just stay away from them," Lily told her, "You have to stay back."

Madge's gaze was drawn to the band in the queen's hand, "That's beautiful, isn't it?"

"Mummy!" Cyril cried as the queen moved to crown her.

"It's alright Cyril," the Professor moved over to the children, holding them back a bit, "It takes someone stronger," she murmured, watching as Madge allowed herself to be crowned.

"Look how it shines…" the woman breathed.

~8~

Downstairs the Doctor scanned the rain and the harvester with the sonic from the doorway. He checked the results, muttering to himself, "Nice one Madge, a complete write-off," when he glanced up to see the stars spiraling towards the sphere. He turned and ran up the stairs, stopping short when he saw the stars entering Madge's head as she sat on the throne, the band glowing gold on her forehead. The Professor stood by the window, her arms around Lily and Cyril.

"The stars are going inside her!" Lily shouted, "She's taking the whole forest!"

"Oh, this is marvelous!" Madge smiled, "Oh, this is really quite wonderful."

The Doctor paused, watching as the stars finished entering her, and ran over, "Madge! Are you alright? Talk to me..." he slapped her cheeks lightly, "Madge. Can you hear me?"

"Yes, I can hear you, I'm perfectly fine! Thank you."

"Fine? You've got a whole world inside your head!"

"I know! It's funny isn't it. One can't imagine being a forest then suddenly one can! How remarkable."

"You're ok?" he stood up and looked at the statues, " _She's_  ok?"

The queen leaned forward, "She is strong," before pulling away.

Madge blinked, "Oh…that wasn't me. Oh, this is all really rather clever, isn't it?"

The Doctor just eyed Madge skeptically before turning to the Professor, "She's strong? SHE'S strong? Stronger than you?"

She nodded, "Yes."

He shook his head, "I don't understand."

"We've both seen the world," she explained, "We've both suffered and lost and survived. We will endure anything to return to the ones we love," she offered him a small smile, "But she has something more. She's a  _mother_."

His eyes widened, "Oh. Oh! Stupid me. Stupid old Doctor! Of course, weak and strong. It's a translation. Translated from the base code of nature itself. How else does life ever travel? The mother ship!"

The room started to shake as the sphere rose, "What's happening?" Lily cried.

"No idea. Do what I do, hold on tight and pretend it's a plan!" he ran to the window, joining the Professor in ducking down while Lily and Cyril knelt beside their mother, holding onto the throne.

"Oh my God," the Professor breathed as she looked out the window in time to see Madge fly the sphere into the Time Vortex.

"This is amazing!" the Doctor agreed as they stood up and looked out.

"Where are we?" Cyril asked.

"Technically we're not anywhere…"

"We've flown into the Time Vortex," the Professor blinked, before shaking her head, and turned to the queen, "You got what you wanted."

"Those idiots down there can burn your old home and you'll be safe up here…"

"But these people helped you and they're in our protection."

"Now, help them."

"How do we get home?"

"Think," the queen said, leaning forward to touch Madge.

"Sorry what?" the Doctor frowned.

"She must only think."

"Madge did you hear that?" he ran over and knelt down, "You said it but did you hear it? You've got to think."

"Think…what?" Madge looked at him, slightly dazed.

"Think of home," the Professor joined him, "Just picture it, feel it."

"You have to  _really_  feel it," the Doctor agreed, "Can you do that?"

"Your mind is controlling this vessel…"

"You can fly us all back for Christmas!"

Madge shook her head, "My head is full of trees caretaker, can't you fly us home?"

"We don't have a home to think of," the Professor said softly.

"And just between us, we're older than we look and I…" he swallowed, "I can't feel the way you do, not anymore, and you  _really_  need to feel it Madge. Everything about home that you miss, until you can't bear it, until you almost burst."

"Until it hurts," Madge breathed, "Is that what you mean caretaker? Till it hurts?"

"Yes. Yes…"

Madge pulled out a telegram, the one they knew had reported her husband's death, "Well then, home in time for Christmas!" she let out a soft scream as the vessel flew through the Vortex, a small ripple of energy appearing around it.

"What's happening?" Lily cried, "Where're we going?"

"Show them!" the Professor turned to the statues, "Show them!" the statues raised their hands and the windows cleared, forming a large triangular viewing glass, showing them the Vortex.

"Ha!" the Doctor grinned, "The Time Vortex, your mum is flying a forest through the Time Vortex be a little impressed."

"What are you going home for Madge? What's pulling you there? Please try, please think."

An image of a man with a baby girl appeared on the screen, her husband, then him waving goodbye to her, "Reg!" Madge gasped.

"Daddy!" Cyril grinned, seeing his father playing a blindfold game with him and Lily.

"My Reg!" and there he was having a tea party with Lily.

"That's it," the Doctor nodded, "Focus on Reg. Be careful, but focus on him."

"I don't know…"

"How did you meet?" the Professor turned to her, "You and Reg, tell us how you met."

"Uh…he followed me home," the scene appeared on the screen, the young couple walking through the woods, "I worked in the dairy, he used to follow me home."

"Look at father!" Lily smiled, "He looks so young!"

"He said he'd keep on following me till I married him. Didn't like to make a scene…"

"Just stay focused," the Doctor encouraged, "Think of home. This thing, it works psychically," he pulled out the sonic and flashed the band, "It'll find the signal and lock on."

"No, no, please don't show me that!" Madge gasped, seeing a plane flying on a cloudy night, "Please don't show me that!"

"Is that daddy's plane?" Cyril frowned.

"Please, I don't want to see that! Please."

"No, no, no, no, no Madge," the Doctor shouted, "Don't break the signal now, we can't break it now I'm sorry."

"But not the night he died. I don't want to see him die!"

Lily looked at her mother, startled, "What do you mean? The 'night he died?'"

"Please don't make me watch him die!"

"Mummy…" Cyril's voice trembled, "Is daddy dead?" his eyes filled with tears, seeing Madge crying, "Mummy!"

They watched as the engines began to fail, a man running up to tell Reg, the pilot, that one of their men was fading fast only for Reg to report that they were lost, giving the order to say they'd be home for Christmas. He cried, touching a picture of Madge, apologizing to her as the plane started to go down.

"Goodbye, my love," Madge wept, "Goodbye!"

And a bright light filled the room.

~8~

"Cyril, Lily," the Doctor called as the humans began to wake up in the wreckage of the vessel, "Everyone alright?"

"Are they dead?" Madge asked, glimpsing the prone statues.

"No," the Professor crouched by one and ran her hand over it, "They're just wood now, they've been emptied."

The Doctor knelt by Madge and flashed her with the sonic quickly, "The forest is gone from your head too now, isn't it?"

She rubbed her head a moment, "And where is it now?"

"The life force of the whole forest has transmuted itself into a sub-etheric waveband of light which can exist as a…" the Professor began to taper off, seeing Madge staring blankly at her and turned to the Doctor.

"The souls of the trees," the Doctor explained, "Are out among the stars. And they're shining, very happy, and you got them there. Well done Madge."

Madge smiled a bit, standing up shakily, "And where are we?"

"Home! Christmas morning!" he watched as the Professor rubbed an elbow on a window, wiping off the condensation, the manor viewable through it, "We've taken a bit of a shortcut, haven't you always wanted to do that?"

"Mother…" Lily began.

"Oh, look at you," Madge turned to her children, walking to them with her arms open, "You've been so brave you…" they backed away, "Look we're home again see…"

"What did you mean, 'watch him die?' Where's father? Where is he? Where's daddy?" Madge looked down at the telegram in her hand, "Why are you holding a telegram? Well? What does it say?"

"Please just tell us!" Cyril begged.

"Tell us!"

"I imagine you'd prefer to be alone?" the Doctor called as he and the Professor stood by the stairs leading out of the vessel.

The Professor took his hand, "No one would prefer to be alone," she said gently, "You know that."

Madge nodded, "Stay close, please."

He nodded, "We'll be right outside," before they turned and left.

They walked down the steps solemnly, stepping out onto the grass of the yard when something peculiar caught their eye…something that really had  _no_  place being there. The Doctor grinned and bolted back into the vessel.

"Um, sorry to interrupt!" he called, running up the stairs, "But you might want to pop out here for a moment…"

"Caretaker," Madge called, kneeling before Cyril and Lily, "I'm talking to my children."

"We know," the Professor joined him, "And before you go any further…you  _really_  should come and look…" she took the Doctor's hand and pulled him down the stairs once more.

They ran outside, beaming as they waited for the Arwells to join them. The Professor spotted them coming and tweaked his bow tie. He gave her a small kiss on the forehead for it and grinned at Madge as she stared, stunned, past them, "No stars to light the way Madge?" he asked, having heard the last few words of what she'd been saying to the children.

"There was one," the Professor smiled, "There was  _you_."

"Madge Arwell, who flew a whole forest through the Time Vortex, plus one husband!" he laughed, seeing the plane sitting on the ground before them, "He did it again Madge! He followed you home!" Reg walked out, looking just as shocked as them, "Look what you can do. Mother Christmas."

"Madge!" Reg walked forward, "What am I doing here?"

"It's Christmas Day my love!" she threw her arms out, "Where else would you be?"

"Christmas Day? how?"

"We took a shortcut!" she laughed, running to hug him.

"Daddy!" Lily and Cyril shouted, running to him as well.

"Happy crying," the Doctor remarked, winding an arm around the Professor as they watched the happy reunion, "Humany wumany."

~8~

The Doctor and Professor stood outside the sitting room, watching as the family put together a puzzle before the fire that night. Reg kissed Madge's head, smiling softly at her. The Doctor grinned and did the same to the Professor before she took his hand and they walked off.

~8~

The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS, stopping short when he saw Madge standing in the attic room, staring at the police box with wide eyes. The Professor nudged him and he stepped out completely, allowing her out as well.

"Of course!" Madge pointed at them, "It's you, isn't it! My spacemen angels with the broken visor and head on backwards!"

"How do I look?" he spun around, "The right way around."

"Funnier."

"Ok..."

The Professor could only laugh at that.

"So you came back," Madge eyed them.

"Well, you were there for us when we had a bad day," the Professor remarked, "Always like to return a favor."

The Doctor nodded, "Got a bit clinchy in the middle there, but it sort of worked out in the end. Story of my life," he smiled at the Professor and kissed her temple. It most certainly was the story of his life.

"Thank you," Madge smiled, reaching out to hug them both.

"You did it all yourself Madge Arwell," the Doctor said as they pulled back, "But thanks for thanking us."

"Now the last time I saw you, I went back the next day but the phone box had gone."

"Yeah, you want to see how it's done?"

"He loves this trick," the Professor said as he pulled her back to the box.

"No!" Madge shouted and they stopped, "I want you to stay for Christmas. Please."

"Ah, well, you see, things to do, people to see…" the Doctor trailed.

"Of course, yes, family of your own," Madge nodded.

"Well…no actually."

"Oh…yes, yes you said you had no family. But there must be people who love you. Friends..."

"No. Well…yes, but…it's a long story…"

"They all think we're dead," the Professor said sadly.

The Doctor squeezed her hand, "Never mind, anyway, watch our box do its thing, it's really cool," he pointed at her, "You'll love it!" before taking the Professor's hand and heading back for the box.

"No!" Madge called again and they stopped at the door, "No one should be alone on Christmas..."

"We're fine," the Doctor tried to wave her off, "We don't mind. We're really very good at…"

"I'm not talking about  _you_. I'm talking about your  _friends_. You can't let them think that you're dead, not at Christmas."

"It's complicated, very complicated, far too complicated for…"

"You must go and tell them. At once," she shooed them, "Off you go."

The Doctor grumbled a bit, "…yes mum. I'll think about it," the Professor just smiled and nudged him. He started to grin again, "Now eyes on the box!" they headed for the TARDIS once more when…

"Oh caretaker!" Madge called, "Housekeeper!"

' _Good lord, it's like Donna all over again,_ ' he heard the Professor joke as they turned back.

"What if I require you again?"

"Make a wish," the Doctor grinned before entering the box, pulling the Professor in as well, leaving Madge to watch as the box disappeared before her eyes with a wheeze.

~8~

The Professor knocked on a TARDIS blue door, decorated with a quaint wreath.

"If that is more carol singers!" they heard Amy shout from inside, "I have a water pistol! You don't want to be all wet on a night like this!" she threw open the door and aimed the water pistol, trailing off when she saw the Doctor and her standing there.

"Not absolutely sure…" the Doctor hesitated, "How long…"

"Two years," the Professor whispered to him.

Amy nodded and proceeded to squirt them both with the water pistol.

The Doctor wiped his face quickly, "Ok…fair point."

"So…you're not dead," Amy eyed them harshly.

"And a Happy New Year!" he grinned.

Amy stepped forward, speaking quietly, "River told us."

His grin faded, "Well, of course she did."

"She's a good girl," Amy defended before eying them, "Well? I'm not gonna hug first."

"Nor are we," the Professor said, playing along as they all knew they'd end up hugging. They stood there only a few moments, trying to resist, before catching each other's eye and smiling, moving to hug at the same time.

"Mr. Pond!" Amy shouted, "Guess who's coming for dinner!"

"Ooh!" Rory appeared in the doorway, walking to them, "Not dead then?"

"We've done that. We're about to have Christmas dinner. Joining us?"

"If it's no trouble," the Professor smiled.

"There's a place set for you," Rory told them.

The Doctor frowned, "But you didn't know we were coming, why would you set us a plate?"

"Oh because we always do," Amy rolled her eyes as Rory pointed at her, "It's Christmas you morons!"

Rory laughed as Amy walked in, nodding to them, "Come on."

The Doctor stood there a moment, stunned, as they walked in before following them. He paused just over the threshold, turning to the Professor who smiled gently, cupping his cheek with her hand. Her thumb gently stroked beneath his eye, wiping away the happy tear that had fallen, "See?" she whispered, "You  _can_  still feel it."

He brushed a lock of hair behind her ear, "Only around you," he admitted.

"Merry Christmas Theta," she smiled.

He smiled at her in return, taking her hand from his face, "Merry Christmas Kata," he kissed her palm before closing the door excitedly, grabbing her hand, and pulling her down the hall after their Companions.

~8~

The Doctor sighed as he lay down on their bed, rolling over to look at the Professor, who was lying on her side as well, facing him. He reached out and took her left hand in his right, absently playing with her fingers as they laid there in thought. He could tell there was something on her mind so he just waited, looking into her eyes as he did so, trying to convey that she could tell him.

"Reinette," she said after a moment, "Tommy, Elton, Chloe, Timothy, Creet, Frederic, Luke, Rani, Clyde, Amelia Pond, Mandy, Elliot, Kazran, Santiago, Melody Pond, Toby, George, Alfie, Lily and Cryil…"

"What about them?" he frowned, confused.

"We've had adventures with so many children, have you noticed?"

She certainly had. More so, she'd noticed his reactions around them, how wistfully he looked at Craig and Alfie, how he knew how to help handle George, even the cot he'd kept from Gallifrey, among other things...

He paused, thinking about it, he hadn't really noticed till now, "And?"

She looked away, a bit shy, "What if…I said…perhaps...we should have an adventure…with one of our own?"

His eyes widened, "Kata are you…"

"No," she cut in, "But…I think I might  _want_  to be."

He let out a breath, "Really?"

She took a breath and nodded, "I never stopped imagining what our children might look like…I showed you some of them, and…I'm tired of imagining, of guessing…you know me," she nudged him, "Far too curious for my own good, I want to KNOW," she nodded at her decision and looked him in the eyes, "Theta...I want to have a baby..."

He could feel tears prickling at the corners of his eyes as he beamed at her. He'd dreamed of being a father, of being a father with her as the mother. He'd tried to create that level of excitement when Mayra had been pregnant and given birth but it wasn't the same…and now…to have her offering him the one thing he wanted more than anything…it was the greatest Christmas gift he had ever received.

"Ok," he whispered, leaning forward to kiss her, both of them ready to start actively trying for a bright, new future.

Yes, the Silence were still out there.

Yes, there was the fall of the eleventh looming on the horizon.

But they could remember the Silence now and they knew that, together, they could face anything.

And a child would be more than enough to make them fight all the harder for their future.

To be continued...in...Reproduction!

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awwww…sweet, they want a family! That'll definitely shake things up :) So, she's not pregnant, but wants to be. But…we all know, nothing with the Doctor is ever easy. Will they have a child? Not even I know…I mean, being Bonded, more than 200 years later and still no baby? Just because they are 'actively' trying to have one now in no way means they were 'actively' trying not to have one before. But I do know that women tend to go a bit crazy when they want a baby, so I'm already envisioning more slightly 'suggestive' and intimate scenes/dialogue/references to be worked into possibly almost every episode of the next series...quite a few that would probably give the Doctor dual heart attacks...especially what I have planned based on the short clips, from the preview, of the Western episode of Series 7 :)
> 
> As for the title for the next story, well, it sort of speaks for itself doesn't it? They are going to be trying for a baby, the art of reproduction.


End file.
